


Soulmate collection

by blue_nebulae



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Bar/Pub, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Tattoos, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Bull - Freeform, Character Turned Into Vampire, Destiny, Drabble, Drabble Collection, Drabble Sequence, Drunkenness, F/M, Fate & Destiny, First Meetings, Flushed Romance | Matesprits, Fortune Telling, Gendrya - Freeform, Heartbreak, Love at First Sight, Magical Tattoos, Mates, Romance, Romantic Soulmates, Self-Discovery, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Tattoos, True Mates, Vampires, Wolves, bulls, wolf - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-27
Updated: 2018-12-11
Packaged: 2019-02-22 11:25:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 32,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13165920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blue_nebulae/pseuds/blue_nebulae
Summary: One-shot stories with the soulmate subject.





	1. Basic Instinct

He always thought it was bullshit everything people said about finding their soulmates. That all those excuses of “I didn’t know what I was doing I just did it” were bullshit and a sad excuse for reckless and crazy behavior, to justify sleeping with a stranger or to marry someone out in a rush. At least, until last night, that’s what he used to think, until he lived finding her soulmate first hand.

 

The legends say that when you find your soulmate you have that primal and basic instinct of claiming them and nothing else matters. Those who find each other would do, at any cost, what needs to be done and there’s no way stopping them. He heard people saying that it was like if they were drunk, acting for the sake of it.

 

He always thought those stories to be complete lies, legends but now he was lying next to her sleeping soulmate, on a hotel room, completely naked and there was no other place he’d rather be

 

He wished he could say he couldn’t remember how he got there, but he did. He wished he could say it was like if he was drunk, no control whatsoever over his actions, but that wasn’t entirely the case. The thing is, he now believed the legends and the stories.

 

And the legends also said that destiny will work in a funny way to make sure one finds their soulmates. He had lived 28 years without one, he thought he was a rare case of a soulmateless person.

 

Looking back on it, he should’ve seen it coming when his friends dragged him to the Riverlands, that was the oddity in his routine. One of his friend’s birthday was yesterday and the guys dragged him to gamble away and join the parties in those famous tourist hotels. For some reason he was convinced to go along because spending a weekend gambling could be a good way to destress himself from all the work he had had the past few weeks. It didn’t take much to convince him, him the one who would rather spend a weekend cooed up in his flat watching tv shows and painting.

 

That was how he happened to be last night at a club. That was how he saw her for the first time. He had gone to the bar to get a beer and when he turned around he saw the most beauty thing his eyes had caught sight of, a siren that looked like a small girl dancing carefree and his blood started to stir inside of him, when she turned and her grey eyes met his, the world imploded.

 

It was like a hungry beast inside of him had woken up.

 

He wanted to have her, he needed to have her.

 

His body moved on its own, his body went on autopilot. Now he understood the stories, finding your soulmate it’s like being drunk, except you’re completely aware of what you’re doing but your brain is functioning at a primal state. You want something, you go and get it without thinking of consequences, one would act.

 

He needed to be close to her.

 

He wanted to meet her.

 

He wanted to kiss her.

 

So his body moved by itself towards her and she was waiting for him.

 

Unless he was completely unfortunate, she was his soulmate just as he was hers. She was supposed to be having the exact same experience as him.

 

As soon as he reached her, beer forgotten behind, her arms went to drag him down to kiss him. It was rapture, every single cell in his body was reacting to her touch, it was like nothing he had ever felt before.

 

His hands were travelling all over her body, he found himself biting her lower lip and he needed her more than anything he had needed in his life.

 

How could he had lived this long without her?

 

“I’m Arya and you’re mine” she said right next to his ear when he went to kiss her neck. Arya, the name was perfect. She was perfect. She took his hand and dragged him out of the club. She was small and thin, her hair was cut in an asymmetrical way and she was wearing some kind of cropped shirt that let you see the lower back and the sway in her hips got him hypnotized for a while.

 

“Gendry” he found himself saying, he was lost at words because all he wanted was to keep on kissing her, to have her in every way possible. Gods, the legends were so true this was more than just desire, it was survival.

 

Somehow his brain functioned enough to remember that this club was located in the hotel he was staying, he leads her towards the elevator when she tried to guide him towards the counter. The last rational part of his brain was giving her the option to leave as he pressed the call bottom for the elevator. All the confirmation he needed was how she pushed him inside of the elevator once the doors opened. Somehow he pressed the 12th floor and next thing he knew both were inside his room and he had slammed her against the door, raising her as he grinded against her as her legs went around his waist and he groaned.

 

The next few hours were a mess; he remembers having her in more than one way. He remembers she bit his collarbone, marking him before saying “you’re mine” over and over again. She screamed his name when she peaked, and his name had never sounded better. He remembers the taste of her, sweater than anything he had ever tasted and completely unique and he finds himself wanting her again now as he watches her sleep.

 

Yet, he now knows the primal urge is gone, but not completely because soulmates will always have that need. But he knows they need to talk, to figure out how they’ll live on now that they have found each other because he knows he can’t let her go, he won’t be able to live without her again.

 

He’s lost in thought when he feels her stir against him, finally waking up. She slowly opens her eyes and smiles at him “Hey” she says and he can’t really answer because she’s so gorgeous she took his breath away. Her grey eyes are so deep; it feels as if he can drown himself in them.

 

Somehow he answers “hey” before taking a strand of her hair and placing It behind her ear, caressing her face with the tip of his fingers as he pulls his hand back to tug it under the pillow.

 

“I never thought I’d find you here. I didn’t think you existed at all” she says. He could say the same for her.

 

“Me neither”

 

“I’m Arya”

 

“I know” he answers softly and she grins before smacking him lightly in the arm.

 

“I know you know, let me finish, stupid” there’s no anger in her words, nor in her insult, it’s more as if she’s used to call everyone that “My name is Arya, I’m 23, I just moved to King’s Landing for work”.

 

This was the talk, apparently both were thinking along the same ways of introducing and trying to figure out how to mesh their lives now that they’ve found each other.

 

“I’m Gendry, I’m 28. I’m art director in an advertising agency in King’s Landing” he wanted to smile, they both lived in the same city. He hoped they lived close, but if they didn’t the idea of moving closer to her didn’t sound too crazy in his head.

 

“What are you doing here at the Peach?” she asked. This was not the ideal place to meet a soulmate, a party district but here they were.

 

“My friend wanted to celebrate his birthday, dragged me along. You?” she chuckled before answering.

 

“My sister’s birthday was yesterday, dragged me to celebrate. I never come to this places, I hate them yet I still joined them in a bet that I could have fun like them, guess what everyone says was true… I found you that way” he watched her move closer to him, slowly raising her hand to trace a small patter in his chest and her touch is cold yet it burns at the same time.

 

“I’ve never been here before, the one time I come here to gamble my money away I find you” his hand reach out to hers, taking her hand and bringing it to his to kiss it. He can’t help but to touch her, he needs her.

 

He shifts, wanting to get closer to her but something catches her eye and next thing she’s lifting herself a bit, placing a hand softly against him.

 

“I hurt you” concern shows in her face and he looks down to see a small trail of dry blood is in his collarbone, her index finger softly points a place a bit up of his collarbone, where she bit him last night. He looks down, he can’t really see it but he doesn’t really care. He wouldn’t even care if he gets a scar, she can mark him all she wants.

 

“It’s alright. It’s almost like a wolf’s mark” he says, trying to reassure her that he doesn’t really care but her eyes open wide as if he’s said something important and she looks at him completely surprised.

 

“My family’s sigil is a wolf” next thing he knows she’s straddling him and kissing him madly, almost desperate and he sits, bringing her atop of him, sheets falling behind her back. He’s kissing her neck when she speaks again, almost breathlessly “you’re mine, mine”.

 

He kisses his way up until their lips crash again, but he coaxes it into something sweet and tender before separating, resting his forehead against her because he can’t actually pull apart from her completely “I’m your m’lady, always”.

 

Arya kisses him once more and he loses it again, instinct taking over his body all over again. She pulls apart for a moment “Do not call me m’lady!” before she kisses him once more and he smirks against her. Flipping her over he says “as m’lady commands”

 

She groans but it soon turns into a moan as he caresses her between her thighs and he’s kissing every part of her body he can get to, but her hands gently indicate him that she wants to kiss him again.

 

“I want…”

 

“What do you want?” he asks as he keeps teasing her with his fingers, watching as pleasure takes over her once more.

 

“I want you, now”

 

“AS m’lady commands” he doesn’t need to be told twice, in a moment he’s between her thighs and entering her and completely forgetting about anything other than her. When she peaks it’s his name on her voice that sends him over the edge along with her and he swears he could die right then and there and he’ll be the happiest man alive.

 

Now he’s lying and she’s on top of him resting as they try to catch their breath.

 

“you can’t leave me” her voice is demanding, an order that clearly says that she wants him with her as much as he wants her.

 

“I’ll never leave you, I’m yours”

 

 

 

He’ll follow her to end of the world and all seven hells if necessary because he understands the legends now. He can’t live without her and he’ll show her every second of his life in this world.


	2. Happy Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soulmate tattoo drabble

There were days she loved her sister Sansa and her soulmate, this was not one of those days.

 

“Arya, c’mon stop whining!”

 

“It’s your birthday! And we planned this surprise! Cheer up and thank us!”

 

“It was Jon’s idea! He spent a serious amount of time making this happen so just stop bitching and enjoy it!” Sansa threw a low blow mentioning Jon, her favorite brother, and that made her sulk more as she was dragged inside a club after Margaery flirted their way in without making a line or being asked for her ID.

 

“I didn’t want to come to a fucking bar club on my birthday!”

 

“No! You wanted to be miserable on your birthday, again!”

 

“Seriously sis, your 18th was the dark ages with your mark appearing on your wrist, your 19th was stupid with you hiding and now you’re not staying in! Beside what are the chances you’ll meet you CharmingGuy on this birthday!? You practically went Thoreau mode after your mark, you should go out a bit and stop being paranoiac” Margaery tried to cheer her up in a twisted way that was not working.

 

“Besides, you’ll like this! Just pretend to be surprised for Jon because he honestly thinks you have no clue that something awaits you here!” Sansa dragged them to the bar where she ordered one beer for each.

 

“He knows you love this fucking band! So he went and made Theon make arrangements and you’re meeting them after!” Margaery was just texting someone, probably Jon informing him they were already inside. The club was a usual rock place Jon and his band played some nights and it was still early so few people were in.

 

“And they’re singing you the birthday song, so pretend to be happy for like three minutes!” Sansa glared at her for a second before downing her beer “he actually got your favorite band to play for you, you know the ones who don’t play live that often and it’s a shame because that guitarist you like is fucking gorgeous”

 

“I’d so do him if I like men” Margaery added and she wanted to hit them both.

 

“I do not like Gendry nor do I love that band” she actually did like the Brotherhood’s guitarist a bit, but she’d never admit on crushing on a rising rock star so her sister and Margaery would start teasing her of being a groupie, she had enough with their soulmate teasing.

 

She could only stomp her feet and down her beer because if they got into so much trouble there was no way she could ruin it and Sansa was just ratting the secret out because her sister knew she hated surprises. Specially after the 18th birthday fiasco.

 

T day she got her tattoo was horrible because everyone made a big deal out of it and she hated it, she wanted to be a soulmateless but noooo the gods gave her a bossy idiot soulmate who probably expects she’d follow orders like a stupid girl.

 

Remembering her birthday from two years ago was a nightmare, she woke up on her 18th birthday with the soulmate tattoo at her wrist and it was hideous, her soulmate was just a bossy asshole and she hated him or her.

 

The thing with soulmates is you never know what you’re going to get… like her sister Sansa who’s been into pretty boys all her life ended up with a badass bitch like Margaery as her soulmate and Bran was an oddity with two soulmates… the Reed siblings; Jon got a crazy wildling; Robb got a nice soulmate in Jeyne but it was odd since… he seemed to be soulmates with Theon… she always thought those two shared a tattoo and kept it secret from everyone else.

 

“Stop remembering it, Arya! We had enough of it last year!” Sansa elbowed her as they made their way to be closer to the stage, where Jon probably indicated them to be.

 

She groaned but nobody heard it since it was getting louder inside the club. Last year she refused going out, she didn’t want a fucking celebration nor anything because celebrating your birthday always invited people to ask “did you get your mark?” or stupid things like “What does it say?!”.

 

She hated her mark and that’s why she covered all the time and after the teases from Sansa because her mark, according to her sister, was “soooo romantic”. Robb and Theon gave her hell from it and started referring to her soulmate as “Charming Guy” because he had _charming_ manners.

 

Charming manners her ass.

 

She continued to sulk like Jon for a while until Jon’s band started playing and she started singing along and jumping around. The club now was packed because Jon’s band, The Night’s Watch, was becoming very popular and girls loved Jon as the lead singer and main guitar player. Satin was the second favorite in the bass, Samwell back in the drums. She was jumping around to the beat of “beyond the wall” with Sansa and Margaery when something caught her eye at the side of the stage.

 

Someone was, apparently, going to show on the stage and maybe that’s when they’ll embarrass her to death… she cursed loudly.

 

“Oh you so know it’s coming! Act surprise!” Margaery yelled

 

“We love you, little sis! Happy birthday! Don’t kill us!” Sansa kissed her cheek as both girls had her arms around her to prevent her from running away.

 

“I hate you all”

 

“Shut up, you’ll be having wet dreams of the bull serenating you tonight for ages!” She was now glaring at Jon who was still singing his heart out to the last notes of the song.

 

Once finished her brother started saying the usual greetings to the audience, pointing random girls as fan service until his eyes were set on her and she gulped.

 

“Tonight is a very special night for us!” he began “You know, tonight we’re having some company! Some friends are joining us on the stage for a new song we made together!” the girls in the audience were screaming like crazy and she was trying to free herself from her sisters’ grip.

 

“Let’s give a shout out to The Brotherhood!” Jon screamed as some guys entered the stage and the girls went crazy. Now she had never seen them live because she didn’t go out much, she only went from time to time to Jon’s gigs… but the brotherhood she knew them… she was a fan of them before they started gaining attention, while they still were releasing music on fucking soundcloud.

 

She was hyperventilating now, she wanted to run away and avoid the embarrassment.

 

“You okay?” Sansa or Margaery asked, she couldn’t tell because of all the noise from the screaming girls… “Hang on, it’ll be over soon”

 

She saw as the guys took their places, apparently Jon was quite good friends with Gendry if that bromance hug said anything… why hadn’t he told her that?! He tells her everything!

 

“Before we get started I’d like to do something for this girl” Jon grabbed the mic again the crowd was cheering louder, stupid girls thinking he was talking about them “She’s very close to my heart, one of my favorite people in the world” she could feel the flush on her as Jon was looking at her while speaking and she was fighting Sansa to be set free and run away.

 

“This is one of her favorite songs, one from the Brotherhood and I asked Gendry if I could sing it along with him” she was sure now girls were throwing their underwear at them.

 

“This is for you, Arya!” Jon pointed at her “Happy birthday, little wolf” when the first chords of “Battle cry” started to play on Gendry’s guitar she was absolutely sure something was off… things started going in slow motion… was she going to pass out now? Watching Gendry grab the mic?

 

“Stay where you are, m’lady! Happy birthday” he was looking straight into her eyes and something inside exploded as if she was a crazy fan. After Gendry spoke, with that deep voice of his, knew she was really going to pass out if she didn’t ran out from the place because…

 

“No, fucking way!” One of the girls yelled as they released her and she gained enough sanity to start making her way out of the place and diving against the sea of people going crazy for the bands.

 

She was making an excellent job in running away because people had stopped jumping and the band stopped playing probably wondering why the birthday girl was running away and then she heard Jon yelling near the mic.

 

“Gendry, run after her you fucking idiot! She’s your soulmate!” She finally crossed the sea of people and was heading towards the exit when she turned around to see what was going on. Jon was telling Gendry something, again, since the guy seemed to be a rock on stage until Gendry murmured something against the mic and next thing she saw was Gendry diving into the mass of people. That’s when she bolted out of the club.

 

She was halfway across the parking lot when someone yelled her name and she stopped in her tracks because there was no way to avoid it now… he was there… this was the dreaded birthday she awaited ever since she got her tattoo on her wrist. She turned to see him running until he was in front of her… how could he exit the club so fast? Did he really dive into the crowd and started surfing it?!

 

“did you really just fucking do that?” was the first thing that got out of her mouth and she wanted the earth to swallow her, what a great impression…

 

She saw his blue eyes open in surprise for a second until a chuckle escaped him “I always wondered what did I do to make you say that” he lifted his right arm, tugging the sleeve of his leather jacket until she saw “Did you really just fucking do that?” written on his forearm.

 

“I always thought that I did something pretty stupid to piss you off, not that I’d do something pretty stupid to chase after you” he looked back to the club “Thank the gods I didn’t fall straight into the ground like Thoros once did… helpful crowd that was” he was looking at her now, a blush appearing on his face as he looked at her.

 

She was looking at him now, for three years the guy had been the reason she hated her birthday and he was in front of her. He was standing, towering over her with his big height and broad shoulder, cool leather jacket and skinny jeans, disheveled black hair and bright blue eyes…

 

She did the only logical thing she could think of, she shoved him hard to the ground “hey! What was that for?!” he sounded surprised and she removed the wristband she always put on her right arm to shove it into his face “For ruining my birthday! Do you know how bad is knowing you’ll meet your fucking soulmate on your birthday exactly?! Wondering if he’ll be an asshole or a creep?!”

 

She groaned again as she watched him lift himself from the floor and grabbing her arm softly, lifting it slightly so he could read the “Stay where you are, m’lady! Happy Birthday” she had tattooed on her wrist.

 

“Guess I should make it up to you, huh?” he simply said before scratching the back of his neck “want to grab a bite? It’s on me!”

 

“Don’t you have a concert to finish?” she crossed her arms to glare at him, the guy was so tall she knew she didn’t look very intimidating at the moment looking up.

 

“I do, but the guys can manage without me tonight” he simply shrugged “Making up for your ruined birthdays is more important. I’m Gendry, by the way” he raised his hand to introduce himself formally, apparently the guy did had manners… she’d never hear the end of it if her siblings find out. She looked at him for a while before sighing and raising her hand to greet his “I’m Arya”

 

“So, are you hungry? I know this place my friend owns, he makes the best pies in the world” he was walking beside her now “what do you say? my car is over there, it’s only like ten minutes away”

 

“What the hell, let’s go” she groaned as she followed him to his car “I want lemon cakes”

 

“Lemon cakes?” he seemed confused as they entered his old beat up car and made their way to his friend’s place “yup, lemon cakes”

 

“Alright, let’s see if HotPie has lemon cakes, if not I’ll ask him to make you ones and if he refuses well… I’ll fucking make them myself but you’re getting lemon cakes tonight, I don’t care how but you’re getting them” he turned to smile at her and she cursed internally at the way that made her feel…

 

The guy was indeed charming…

 

Fuck, she’d never hear the end of it… but at least she will not dread her next birthday as she finally found her soulmate. Finally she could start enjoying her birthday, at last.


	3. The more you know

“She likes blueberries” Gendry said out loud while he kept on tuning his guitar on his bed. It was a lazy afternoon before the holidays break In college and his roommate and friend Jon was still packing.

 

“That’s very useful” Jon chuckled as he kept on packing “When did you pack all your stuff? You’re too chill right now”

 

“I pack yesterday while you were getting pissed with Ygritte” he shrugged and kept on tuning his guitar “I even bought all your family presents, last night”

 

“Well, we still have a trip to the mall before we head north because I haven’t got anyone, anything only Arya and that’s just because I got it online”

 

“You’re not giving your family chocolates again, aren’t you?”

 

“What, no… !” Jon said offended “This year I’m giving more thoughtful gifts”

 

“You’re giving them fancy chocolates, aren’t you?”

 

“Yup”

 

They kept it on for a while until Jon went to have lunch with Ygritte before she left for beyond the wall to spend the holidays with her family, but hthey were going to see her soon since she was going to the Stark house too, only a day later.

 

This year Jon invited him to spend the holidays at his place sbecause he didn’t have anywhere to go, since they became really good friends being roommates and Jon was very persistent he accepted and that’s why tomorrow they were driving six hours to WinterFell from The Wall to spend sevenmas at the Stark house.

 

He was just lying in bed when another thought crossed his mind.

 

“She has dark brown hair” he said out loud to no one in particular.

 

It was odd knowing random things about someone you haven’t even met, yet, but that’s what was happening to him. A person would know facts about their soulmate, out of nowhere one would know. Small things, like how he or she looked like, what the person likes, family stuff, important events that had happened to them and their name.

 

The first fact one would know is that they had a soulmate. One moment one is carrying out their lives as usual and the next you suddenly know something out of nowhere. One day he was at his part time job, fixing a car and then he suddenly knew he had a soulmate and that it was a girl.

 

Then kept coming random things like: she like pineapple on her pizza, she knows how to speak bravoosi, she hates hot weather, she broke a finger punching someone last year, she was short, she liked dogs, her favorite song is Sea of Love by Cat Power and things like that.

 

It was becoming more and more common knowing facts about her, which according to the books and the people meant that the day they would meet was getting closer. He sighed, wondering how that day would be? And what did she know about him?

 

Facts started to appear in his thoughts ever since he began college, the same happened to Jon but the thing is Jon met his almost as soon they started college, a while after they met last year. One day they were getting ready to go out when Jon said “She has red hair”. Once they were out, Jon was hit with the biggest fact of all “Her name is Ygritte”. Later, once they were at this pub a red haired girl appeared out of nowhere, bumped into them and Jon saw her and suddenly bursted out “My name is Jon”, the girl only laughed and said “you know nothing, Jon Snow” and that’s how it was confirmed, because Jon’s nickname was Jon Snow for some weird reason he never actually got around to ask but Ygritte knew.

 

Because that was just about it, you just knew.

 

And the day you know the exact name of your soulmate is when you’re just about to meet them.

 

He knew bits about her, but nothing major… just what she likes and very little of what she looked like. It would be nice to know more… just something that indicated him how was she really like… Perhaps he was going to meet her once they get back from winter break.

 

“She misses her father” he suddenly knew that… that was new. He didn’t know much about her personal life or family life. He didn’t know if she had siblings or where was she from, but this was personal… yet it could mean many things like maybe they were living away from each other, or her father may have passed away or they weren’t in good terms…

 

He kept thinking about it for a while until Jon came back and then they headed out to the mall, flooded with people getting last minute presents and stuff.

 

“She loves lemon cakes” he said to Jon as they were walking on the fancy chocolate aisle at the grocery store “Good to know that, guess I know what she’d prefer if I ever need to get her dessert or something”. A game of them was that when they knew a new fact and they were in the presence of each other they would say it out loud.

 

“Lots of girls like lemon cakes”

 

“Really? Never met one that _loves_ lemon cakes”

 

“You haven’t met my sisters” Jon said as he grabbed the biggest chocolate box for his little brothers “Let’s go get perfumes for my aunt and sister”

 

“She hates the Casterly Lions hockey team” he said happily as he helped Jon carrying the bags “That makes her someone I’d like to meet” that was the last fact he knew about her that day before going to bed. Next day he woke up, got dressed and went with Jon to drive to Winterfell.

 

“Her flight is delayed” he said as he buckled his seat belt “She’s pissed. This is the first time I know what she’s feeling”

 

“Day is getting close, mate”

 

“Hope so” truth be told, he really wanted to meet her. The little things he knew about her made her someone interesting and mysterious… He seriously wanted to know who his soulmate was and find out, first hand, more about her.

 

“Her eyes are grey and her skin is pale” finally he knew something he was really interested in.

 

“Grey?”

 

“Yeah”

 

“That’s not a common eye color” Jon frowned a bit “You’ve told me she has dark hair and grey eyes… well mate, seems you’re in luck because that sounds like a northern gal”

 

“Northern gal?”

 

“Yeah, people from Winterfell north, true Winterfell people, have that characteristics. My dad has grey eyes, dark hair and pale skin… though I’m sure my dad is not your soulmate” Jon laughed “Now you just have to go out to town to find her”

 

“Wasn’t your father almost albino blond?” he asked confused.

 

“No, that’s real father, you know the one that died and I never got to meet. My uncle Ned is my dad… Kind of like Yondu and Starlord in Guardians of the galaxy, same shit”

 

“You’re such a geek”

 

“And you’re about to embarrass yourself meeting your soulmate soon” his friend punched him in the arm in a light hearted matter.

 

“Seems like it, I still don’t know her name, though.”

 

“Soon mate, soon”

 

they kept quiet for a while, just listening to the radio and driving slow since there was traffic as the roads were being cleared because of the heavy snowfalls.

 

“She is in fact from Winterfell” Gendry laughed as he confirmed a new thing about his soulmate “guess you were right”

 

“Told ya”

 

“she has a scar on her lover calf” a new fact came in but Jon was not paying him much attention now, getting bored of the random facts he was receiving now.

 

“She has a tattoo on her left wrist”

 

“Left wrist?” and that seemed to get his friend’s attention

 

“Yeah” Jon just shrugged off, probably thinking it was not such a giveaway to look for once they were out in Winterfell town.

 

“She once got lost in the woods as a kid”

 

“She studies abroad, that’s why she’s pissed since she wants to go home for the holidays and her flight is delayed”

 

Jon was now having a serious face, deep in thought about something… probably the road since the snowfall was getting heavier and the sun was going down “If you manage to know what her tattoo is we can maybe look it up, Sansa knows everyone and she can help you find out”

 

“It’s a wolf’s head” the information suddenly appeared in his brain.

 

He needed to look for a short girl, with dark brown hair, pale skin, grey eyes who had a wolf’s head on her left wrist.

 

Jon kept quiet for a while, frowning expression on his face like if he knew something, perhaps the description was familiar to him now “Do you know someone like that?”

 

“No” Jon declared and that was pretty much it because then Jon started complaining about the traffic and how much it was snowing. So he just kept thinking about the possibility of meeting his soulmate, he was anxious about it. Time passed by and more things starting popping out in his head but he kept them to himself since Jon seemed to be getting cranky because of the weather.

 

Now he knew she had short hair. She knew how to fence and took dancing lessons. One time she broke her left foot falling from a tree trying to help a kitten get down. She beat the crap out of her sister’s ex-boyfriend because the guy made her sister cry.

 

The last fact he knew before they finally got to Winterfell was that she felt lonely living abroad, she wanted to be home with her family and never leave again so she was planning on staying in the north.

 

That got him thinking, since she spoke bravoosi and hated hot weather that would probably mean she’s been living in Braavos for a while. Perhaps that was why he didn’t get to know much about her before, she was faraway but since she was coming home, meaning being closer to where he was living by The Wall, that explained why he was learning so much about her lately.

 

“We’re finally in Winterfell!” Jon cheered, his mood finally lifting “I’m so hungry, dude… I can’t wait to eat at home at last”

 

“Is it really alright you inviting me to your family holidays?”

 

“Yeah, don’t worry about it! It was my uncle who said you should come here and spend the holidays with us. You know he’s good friends with your dad and he also hates his horrible wife, so you already got that in common with him. Besides, we’re always bringing friends over. Sansa invited her soulmate Sandor and her best friend Margaery; Robb invited our cousin Theon but Theon is always home even when we’re not; Bran invited Jojeen. The house is packed and tomorrow Ygritte arrives, so the more the merrier”

 

Once they reached Jon’s house he was awed, Jon mentioned his uncles being wealthy but not that wealthy… they lived in a freaking mansion and almost as soon as they arrived people flooded to greet them. He met Sansa, her scary giant soulmate and her friend; he met Rickon, Bran was waiting inside since it’d be trouble to roll his chair in the snow; he met Robb and Theon and Jon’s uncles.

 

He felt embarrassed slightly because everyone was so nice, specially during lunch. Catelyn Stark had prepared a freaking buffet and it was delicious, it was embarrassing how much one can miss homemade food during college but Jon was making it up by eating like a starved man while he tried to be polite yet Catelyn kept refilling his plate.

 

He offered cleaning the dishes and everyone pretty much went their separate ways, yet Jon was keeping him company with Sansa as his sister kept complaining that their other sister should have arrived by now.

 

“I hope she’s not stuck somewhere, heard they’re delaying flight because of the snowfall. She didn’t even tell me if it was a direct flight or if she was making a stop somewhere, so I can’t help her somehow”

 

“She’ll be here soon, don’t worry” Jon tried to reassure her as he kept eating an apple, the guy was making up for months of horrible food. He chatted with the siblings for a while until Jon casually mentioned Ygritte coming tomorrow and then changing it to the soulmate matter and Sansa asked him if he had met his already.

 

“I haven’t but I think the day is close”

 

“His soulmate is from around” Jon said and Sansa smiled “Really? Tell me what you know, maybe I can help you find her”

 

“Maybe but it’s quite a typical description” Jon began “Short, dark hair, grey eyes a wolf’s tattoo on her left wrist” Jon said it in a teasing manner and it bothered him so he turned around to watch Sansa to see if she probably knew something but the girl looked at Jon for a second before declaring “Nope, no bells. I’ll go to the living room and watch TV with Sandor”

 

“Did she really did not know?” he had to ask because he had a feeling the Starks were not telling him something.

 

“If she says she doesn’t know, then she doesn’t. We’ll search for her but I think you’ll know her name soon with how much you’ve been getting lately” and with that his friend decided to help him in finishing the dishes and then both went to take a nap for a couple of hours and then they were playing video games Jon’s bedroom since they were sharing rooms here too.

 

“Still no Arya?” Jon asked as soon as they went to the living room to have dinner.

 

“Ned’s gone to pick her up, there’s no way she’ll be getting a cab from the airport with this snowstorm” Catelyn seemed worried because the snow storm was getting worst “Hope they don’t close the roads until they arrive”

 

“Gendry, are you alright?” Rickon asked him since he’d been quiet but… how could he not be when new information came to him.

 

“You know something new, don’t you? You finally got her name?” Jon asked with curiosity and Sansa and Margaery looked as if they were in the middle of a gossip talk show.

 

“Oh, you are learning about your soulmate? Did you learn something important, darling?” Catelyn asked.

 

“No, I mean… yes… I just know that… she’s here but I don’t know where here actually means… like in the neighborhood or town, city, country since I think she lived abroad… I don’t know…” he was worried because it was important yet vague information what he suddenly knew now.

 

“I think it’s getting even closer now” Jon patted him in the back before glancing at Sansa real quick who was whispering something to Margaery and Sandor looked bored watching those two.

 

“I hope you meet her soon, it changes everything!” Sansa chirped all happily before passing him the mash potatoes. He kept to himself the rest of the meal and everyone pretty much forgot about his soulmate subject

 

Catelyn send them all to the living room and do something as she went back to the kitchens to pre everything she was going to make for the main holyday event that apparently a lot of people was going to come.

 

He was slouching in the couch watching Rickon play some videogames with Bran and Jon kept bugging them about how much they sucked when he heard the car entering the driveway.

 

“she’s here!” Catelyn exclaimed from the kitchen all exited and Jon was standing up to greet the sister he’s mentioned before to being his favorite.

 

“Gendry you’re about to meet…”

 

“Arya LYanna Stark” he said out loud looking at Jon with shock… his soulmate’s name finally came to him… and it was Jon’s little sister.

 

“Huh, thank the gods I like you, otherwise you’d be dead now” Jon teased “Get ready for the moment you’ve been waiting for all this months”

 

The only thing he could do was stay where he was, standing all nervous as he heard the door open and saw someone entering the house who was suddenly flooded with hugs and greets from everyone in her family.

 

It must have been a few minutes before she noticed someone else was in the house. He watched her with awe as she made her way to where he was standing. She was indeed short, and her hair was short in an asymmetrical way, her skin was extremely pale and her eyes were impressively grey.

 

“It’s nice finally meeting you, officially, Gendry Richard Waters” she reached her left hand to him to greet him in a confident manner and it took him a second to react, to take her hand in his and he was sure he felt electricity when his hand met hers and he caught a glimpse of the small wolf’s head tattooed on her wrist. She was definitely his soulmate.

 

“did you two know each other?” he heard Catelyn ask and Jon trying to explain the situation. He heard cheers, teases and he was sure he saw a camera flash but he he didn’t care, this moment he had been waiting for it for a while.

 

“Guess we can finally get to know each other now” she declared before flashing him a smile that he’s sure he’ll remember for a lifetime. The moment he’s been waiting for ages finally came and he has whole bunch of days to get to really know his soulmate first hand and he can’t really wait for it.


	4. From the start

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Robert's is taking Gendry to meet his new friend.

As he walked inside the hospital he was getting more and more nervous because he had this odd feeling of uncertainity, which was very stupid since he was doing the nice and lovely act of visiting his best friend’s wife, and soulmate, who had just had her newborn baby.

 

So he did the most reasonable thing he could do, he showered, dressed nicely as always, had a great breakfast, drank a glass of whisky to calm his nerves, went to the store to buy nice presents for the mother, the father, the older siblings he liked so much, the pretty little ginger girl and half the store for the new baby girl.

 

“I really can’t wait to see her, dad!” his boy cheered as he helped, as much as a five year old could help, in carrying all the gift bags.

 

“I know Gen, I know you really want to see her” he laughed as he answered his son. Indeed, today was one of the weekends he got to spend in with his kids but Mya and Edric got scared at the sole mention of the word hospital and didn’t want to come visit their new friend. But Gendry, his eldest son immediately went cheered and jumped around in excitement to go and see Catelyn first thing in the morning.

 

He could understand Gendry’s fondness of Caitlyn because of all the boy had been through during his early years. In reality, Mya and Edric didn’t live with him, but they lived with their respective mothers but he got to spend time with them on the weekends. The story was different with Gendry since the boy did actually lived with him now, spending certain weekends at his uncle’s house.

 

Gendry’s mother passed away shortly after he was born and even before she mentioned him about being pregnant, so with no father around the boy went into the foster system. It was a distant relative from Gendry’s mother side who decided to look for his estranged niece  that found out about her passing and subsequently about the child she had. The man, Tobho, did everything in his power to get to the child until eventually he was awarded custody and then decided to look for the father and that lead to him finding out about Gendry.

 

He didn’t even need to take a test to see if the child was his, even though he did as his lawyer suggested, because the boy was his spitting image. He was taller than any boy his age, broader with pale skin, dark shaggy hair and blue eyes. It was as if he looked at a picture from his childhood.

 

Immediately he wanted custody, but he had never lived with any child for more than a few days, the days Mya spent with him, living with a kid all the time scared the shit out of him but he maned up and took Gendry. But since he traveled all the time for work, him and Mott reached an agreement.

 

Gendry will live with him, but whenever he wanted he could spend time at his uncle’s. When he was away on business trips, Gendry would stay with Tobho and the man could visit him as much as he wanted.

 

He also noted that Tobho was a humble man that owned a small auto shop so he proposed him a way to expand his business so he could have a greater income. The man refused at first but eventually they agreed that it would be in a sort of investment and partnership. That way Gendry’s only relative could have a better life and the boy liked spending time at the auto shop, so it was a good thing and he also got a new place to take his cars and a great mechanic to help with his company trucks whenever they needed maintenance.

 

Since Gendry was about the same age as his owns best friend’s kid and nephews Gendry immediately became friends with them. Gendry seemed to be fonder of Jon, Lyanna’s son, than of Robb and Theon, who were troublemakers of their own.

 

His son apparently didn’t inherit his fondness of women, because he barely spoke nor played with little Sansa but perhaps his boy was just shy or not used to be around girls. Apparently the only “girl” he liked was Catelyn and that got him thinking that maybe his boy needed a mother figure or he had a thing for older ladies.

 

Whenever he dropped him at the Stark house, he would immediately look for Catelyn, follow her around and help her in any way with trivial stuff that got difficult to handle with her being pregnant. That he could say about his boy, he had good manners and chivalry ways.

 

Sometimes when Catelyn ruffled Gendry’s hair the boy would blush and Ned would joke about him being jealous of boys liking Cate. There was a cute infatuation that got him thinking that maybe he did need to find a stable mother figure for his kids… perhaps it was time to get a new wife…

 

He snapped out of his thoughts as the lift’s door opened and a baby’s cry could be heard all around the floor. He took notice of two ginger heads outside a room next to the tall figure of Ned Stark.

 

“It’s her” he heard his boy say with awe as they approached the family waiting outside the room.

 

“Your girl sure has lungs!” he laughed as he placed the gifts on a waiting chair by the hall before hugging Ned, his best friend since kids “Congratulations on your new wolf”

 

“Thanks, my friend” his friend looked sincerely happy about welcoming his new girl “I see you still have your habit of buying entire stores for newborns”

“You know me” he laughed before handing Ned his present and giving Jon, Robb, Theon (a nephew Ned was taking care of since his father was mentally ill) and Sansa. The kids were excited with the presents and Gendry was holding onto the one he was supposed to give to Catelyn, completely ignoring his friends as they tried to show him what they got.

 

“I see Gen really wants to give Cate her present” Ned chuckled a bit.

 

“Aye, he does. Why are we waiting here?” everyone was outside the room and the girls were inside.

 

“Nurses are helping Catelyn get a cleaning Arya before they try feeding. We were told to wait outside since were a whole big pack”

 

The friends were talking about, while the boys kept playing outside in the hall and Sansa was all excited with her new dolls. Gendry was still by his side, clinging to his jacket. He heard Arya’s cry get louder and Ned getting anxious about it, no man likes to hear her girl cry.

 

“Girl must be desperate for food now” he tried to joke to ease the tension just as the nurses opened the door to let them in and leave. He went in to see Catelyn holding her newborn who was just red from crying.

 

“Hello, Robert” Catelyn said as she tried to calm the baby “shh shh Someone’s a bit cranky today, not happy about no longer be inside her comfortable home” Catelyn smiled. He went to hug his friend and to see that the baby was so beautiful, small and delicate with dark hair that indicated him that she got the Stark looks instead of the Tully’s like Robb and Sansa have with their red hair.

 

“Hello, girl. I’m your uncle Robert and I’m going to spoil you badly” he spoke softly to the baby as Catelyn showed her to him.

 

“Gendry, come meet my sister!” Robb said and he turned to see that Gendry had just barely moved from the door.

 

“Come meet your new friend, Gendry!” Catelyn called him, the woman really cared for the child and treated him nicely which he could assume was the reason Gendry liked her so much.

 

He watched as Gendry made his way next to Catelyn by the bed, he helped him sit next to her by the bed to meet the girl. The kid was looking at the baby with his blue eyes open wide and awe washing over him. That’s when he noticed that the little baby had stopped crying and was just looking at Gendry, both were staring at each other and the baby’s little arm reached for him.

 

“Gendry this is your new friend…

 

“Arya” the boy whispered.

 

“How did you know?” Jon asked his friend laughing a bit.

 

“Arya?” he turned to look at his friend for a second, he was convinced the girl’s name was going to be Lyanna in honor of Ned’s late sister.

 

Ned’s face was serious now “We just decided to name her Arya and use my sister’s name as a middle name instead of the other way around” he sounded confused as probably almost no one new they had planed to name the girl Arya, he didn’t even know that.

 

How could Gendry know it?

 

He heard a gasp coming from Catelyn.

 

“Gen, how did you know her name?” the boy was just staring at the baby, both were looking at each other “Gen, how did you know?” the mother asked softly again.

 

“I don’t know” he heard Catelyn laugh softly before caressing Gendry’s face tenderly “Oh boy, I knew something was up”

 

“What? Him and Ned asked at the same time, they were lost.

 

“I never said much, but whenever Gendry was around or spoke the baby would just fidget all the time so I suspected something” she started “Now this confirms it”

 

“Confirms what?!” again both men asked.

 

“Think about it!” Catelyn smiled as if she could not really believe what was happening and finding it very funny “The baby sensed him even when she was inside of me, stopped crying as soon as she saw him and he knew her name even before we had told anybody apart from our children”

 

“so?” he asked again… Ned just looked shocked with his mouth wide opened.

 

“When does anyone knows the name of a person you haven’t even met?”

 

“I don’t know! Can someone explain what is going on?” he was getting a bit annoyed by now... and Ned, who was laughing now, just annoyed him a bit more.

 

Ned patted him in the back before one arm hugging him “Man, I can’t believe it! My baby is a day old and I will already be competing for her attention”

“Can someone explain what the fuDGE is going on?” he remember that Catelyn told him not to cuss in front of the kids… he didn’t want to anger her as she had just given birth a while ago.

 

“Robert, my friend, Gendry and Arya are soulmates” the man laughed again and shook his head as if he couldn’t believe it. The truth, he couldn’t believe it himself!

 

Gendry was just five and had already found his soulmate! He still hadn’t found his! How did that happened?! The gods played with them so hard this time!

 

“Oh my god! We need to tell them about the birds and the bees as soon as she starts to walk!” he laughed loudly because he couldn’t actually believe what was going on and Ned slapped the back of his head for saying that.

 

Wow.

 

Gendry was only five and Arya barely hours old and they had already found each other. Those two had a whole adventure together and they didn’t even know it yet.


	5. Human hunt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The vampire fic no one asked for.  
> This happened because for some reason Underworld was on almost every channel during the holidays and then I watched Being Human and well this happened.

She was out that night, having just fed made her mood a bit less grumpy for the night. She wasn’t even supposed to be on duty tonight, but Jon asked her to cover for Robb who was still recovering from the wound the felines gave him during their last fight and Jeyne wouldn’t leave his side so they were two man down.

 

They assigned her to the club, which stincked of humans and other creatures like felines, lycans and any other creature that walked the nights. The club was a neutral place to do business, most creatures can only rely on illegal terms since humans still have that illegal ban on most.

 

Vampires are tolerated as long as they are not caught feeding on humans. But only a desperate can feed on them, it has been many years since she had. Vampires were supposed to be immortal, strongest creatures on earth yet now they had a weakness and it was their food that was killing them. Human blood was now contaminated.

 

It was no brainer how it got that way, since humans diets were crap with more and more processed shit that stenched of chemicals. Also cancer and diseases were in all of them, transmitting in so many ways that made them unbearable to the taste and dangerous to her kind.

 

It was luck that many years ago a rare collaboration between humans and vampires gave them the solution, synthetic blood. Now It was sold everywhere from different varieties and qualities. It kept them humans and vampires safe yet it wasn’t as powerful as the real thing.

 

The richer ones, had the privilege of buying blood from special labs. Pure O neg, free of anything contaminated, but it was expensive, so much that many could not afford it. She was one of the lucky ones, her family owning one of those labs helped. The Starks had been around for centuries, probably since the first men walked the earth. The Stark were pure vampires, most of them. At least she was, born vampire as her siblings.

 

Both her mother and father were vampires from important vampire clans, the Stark and the Tullies. Probably their line was coming to an end, or at least their purity, since Robb’s mate was still a human as he had not converted her; her sister Sansa’s mate was a hound, The hound, legendary warrior and tracker, Bran’s mate was a vampire, one a century older than him and Rickon still hadn’t found his.

 

She still hadn’t found hers either, but she was not looking. That was a thing for vampires, they mated for life, same as lycans.

 

Another venture they had were the night clubs, few of the places where there was no segregation. Her father believed that creatures could live in peace somehow. The fight the other night happened because the dirty lions, the Lannisters, were caught attacking people and Robb got hurt in cross fire, the lions were improving their weapons with special bullets.

 

She hated felines, especially the lions. There Is no creature more untrustworthy that felines, they only care for their well-being and their needs. Thay still killed humans for fun, not even for survival.

 

She could barely tolerate lycans, being too wild and unpredictable for her liking. But they learnt and kept to themselves, sometimes helping when it was needed in stopping felines, dangerous humans and white walkers.

 

Starks had always protected humans from harm. Her cousin Jon, a rare vampire and dragon hybrid, was the leader of a special unit force that collaborated with humans to keep everyone safe. Daenerys appeared soon after, one of the rarest kinds of creatures almost on the verge of extinction. She was a dragon, she was pure fire and she was Jon’s mate.

 

She joined his special forces that combined creatures from different kinds and originas after a while she spent on Braavos training with the faceless men, shape shifters, that taught her many things.Now she had to make sure no attacks happen in the club. It was rare for it to happen, but one can never be truly sure. There could be an anti-vampire attack from anyone, or someone trying to hunt humans. She was prepared, she had her sword, her gun and everything she could need hiding inside her black coat.

 

She scanned the room once, totally packed. She sniffed around to catch anything unusual but caught only the stench of dirty humans, lycans and low class vampires. Apparently tonight was going to be an easy one.

 

Yet she knew something was up once she saw Beric entering the club, followed by his usual group. The Brotherhood were a sort of combinations of allies from different kinds and they were good at distributing information. If they were here it meant something was going on and they wanted to inform. Beric made his way to the bar, probably to ask who was guarding tonight so she made her way to the stairs waiting for him to go up and look for her. IT didn’t take much before he showed.

 

“Mrs. Stark. I thought it was Robb’s turn” the guy simply said

 

“He’s out for the night. What do you want?”

 

“There might be trouble”

 

“Why?”

 

“Heard Lions are hunting”

 

“Who?”

 

“A human” why would Lannisters hunt a human? They were one of the deadliest clans. They hated humans, killed them but never captured them or got into trouble looking for one. That human must be important for something.

 

“Why would the Lannisters hunt a human?”

 

“Weapon maker, heard he is. Apparently the man got a way to make bullets that can kill white walkers”

 

“White walkers can’t be killed by bullets” that was a fact. White walkers were the worst kind, they wanted everyone dead to get their army. One couldn’t reason with them, one couldn’t be allies with them. They were only there to watch the world be destroyed. So far they were kept further north, by the poles and The Wall acting as the shield. Powerful magic was used to keep them away and only valerian steel, the oldest kind, could kill them which meant that one hast to fight them short distanced.

 

It was rare when one White Walker appeared, always bringing chaos and it took many to killed it since they bring their dead army with them.

 

Humans were terrified of them and conspiracies believed that vampires, lycans and felines worked along the white walkers to bring the humans down. That was why there were so many attacks on non-humans these days, people were getting scared.

 

“Apparently they can be killed now”

 

“Why would the lions want to hunt that human? Hoping he can make weapons for them?”

 

“Heard they want let the walkers in, let them kill the Lannisters enemies and then they’ll annihilate them” The perfect plan to eliminate enemies, a plan that could only be made by the like of Cersei Lannister, head of the felines.

 

“You know where to find him?” they needed to protect that human.

 

“Saw him once, he’s good at his job but that’s not just it. There’s more”

 

“what more?”

 

“It can wait. I’m alerting everyone to look out for him, we need to get him safe before the Lannisters catch him, he’s important”

 

“How do we find him?”

 

“Thoros did a background dig, we have pictures and everything. We already put bounty on his head, one show and we’ll know. We’ll deliver him to Jon if we get a hold of him first, but you’re to look out too. If the Lannister get him, we lose how to make weapons for the real fight”

 

That was right, Jon had been training his team to prepare them for the day the walkers decide to come, all of them.

 

She was handed a file with pictures and basic information “Did you look for at his last place?”

 

“Done, he had left short before. He’ll probably look for protection; your family name can be attractive to him. Brought you this for the hound, Clegane can sniff and look around” she was handed a bag of clothes the man had left behind “

 

“I’ll get this to Jon and his team”

 

“We’ll keep searching, see you around Stark” She saw Beric and his team exit the club before looking at the file.

 

The hunted human was named Gendry Waters, 25 human years on him. Weapon dealer, weapon maker in the undergrounds known as The Bull. She looked at the picture they had attached, to memorize the face and look for it. Thick brows, dark hair and pale skin and blue yes, so blue thy could be vampire’s eyes. Only vampire’s eyes were such vibrant colors, even when hers where grey they stood out from the likes of humans…

 

How could a human have such eye color?

 

It wasn’t important, as they needed to sort things out and find him, soon.

 

Next morning, she joined the look out. During the day she went to the docks and weapon dealers to ask around for the bull with no luck yet she found a certain please in scaring humans with her presence, it was odd for an important vampire to go and search for themselves, especially in daylight. It was a myth vampire couldn’t walk during day they could be sensitive, yes, but black clothing and sunglasses were invented for a reason. Weaker and poorly feed vampires were the ones who couldn’t tolerate sunlight.

 

Jon called her to let her know they got a lead, someone had spotted him in the other side of town, she was closer so she should go and search with Clegane who was also near the place and Brienne would join then soon after. She hoped on her car and drove to the abandoned buildings, ignoring the thirst, she had not feed since last night.

 

The hound had just arrived when she got there “Fucking cunt was spotted hiding near here, probably scared shitless. Take a sniff and look for him” he threw at her the hermetically sealed bag of the human’s clothing

 

“I’m no dog!” Clegane was a hound, a kind of lycan being, They were much better at tracking by scent than vampires.

 

“Fucking not, but you can sniff around” the guy went off to search “send a signal if you get into trouble” she insulted him as she opened the bag to take a sniff because it would make look for the human much easier.

 

She prepared herself for the horrible smell of humans but found none. The guy’s scent was… something, it was unlike anything she had smell, he smelled clean… not rotten like most humans. She found herself getting a grip of her before her thirst got heavier. It was rare to find a human like that, she couldn’t surrender to her instincts, she needed to keep him safe even from her.

 

This human was proving himself to be a nightmare.

 

She went to look out for him in the abandoned building were a fire once took place years ago. Vampires lived there until a human decided to bomb the place, one of those who hated her kind. She got so mad when that happened, why couldn’t they live them alone?

 

She sniffed the air only getting mold, humidity and dust. This place still smelled like death, burnt and pain. It was a really good place to hide from lower kinds, those who were of mixed race or ones who had become something else than human and didn’t have senses as developed as pure kinds.

 

She got her gun ready, if they had a lead on him so did the Lannisters and their armies. She closed her eyes to sense more, sniffed the air and tried to listen to what was beyond. There was movement on a third floor in an abandoned building. The only need she had now was to concentrate more in order to disappear, to become no one and travel through the darkness to get where she was supposed to. That was why she went to braavos, to learn an ancient vampire technique that allowed her to travel as mist. It was difficult but useful and now it gave her the surprise element. She went with it, let her consciousness guide her to her destiny.

 

Once she was materialized again, she kept hidden in the dark corner of the abandoned room where the human was hiding. He had blocked windows and doors, set up traps as he had an exit, a window that allowed him to jump to the next building where he probably had set up traps too.

 

She moved slightly, without making a sound. He was too focused on the front door to sense her, but either way she was deadly and nobody saw her coming once she was hunting a prey.

 

She pointed her gun to the back of his head, once it made contact “Gendry Waters, I’m here to take you before the Lannisters get here”

 

She sensed his shock, he knew he was doomed with a gun pointing at his head “Nobody is taking me again” he shifted and a gun was fired, she had fallen into a trap and she saw that coming barely dodging it in time before moving to get a grip on the human.

 

Now she was angry, she was forced to put effort into hunting a human, she didn’t like that. She had to move to pin him down as he tried to resist.

 

“Stop!” she pinned him harder but he was abnormally strong, far stronger than any human she had ever met or fought against. She got a grip on his neck, pressing with just enough force to cut the air “Listen, If you want to live let me take you, we’ll protect you. If you want to be a Lannister prisoner, then fight me” he stopped resisting, trying to set his neck free to get oxygen in his lungs again. That’s when his scent washed over her, he was tempting… his blood rushing it was too powerful to be ignored, she wanted him.

 

“what are you?” she whispered before letting him go slightly, still pinning him down but allowing him to get some air. She kept looking at him, his eyes were still too blue to be just human, his scent was too pure. He was something else, Beric knew what he was, but didn’t say it last night.

 

“Stark, cats are going your way” Clegane’s voice sounded in her auricular. They needed to leave, she could fight the felines, whole bunch of them but to take care of someone at the same time was going to be difficult.

 

“We’re leaving, now” she stood up, lifting him by the collars. He was abnormally big too, almost like Brienne. Humans weren’t that big, he was definitely something else. He tried to resist her again “unless you wanna be used by them and then killed”

 

“How do I know you won’t do the same?” he glared at her, he wasn’t scared just fury coming out of him. Definitely an interesting human under these circumstances.

 

“you have my word” they looked at each other’s eyes for a moment and something shifted inside of her. Gendry Waters was special; she knew it but she couldn’t figure out why.

 

That’s when the door was blown out and fire broke. She shielded the guy before yelling “your window plan is on”. She fired, taking down three cats as the guy grabbed a bag a jumped out of the window into the building next door, breaking the window with a loud crash. She ran after him, killing one more midair.

 

She landed on the building next door before seeing the human running away faster than any human she had seen, he was trying to escape. She ran after him, catching him up in a second “you don’t think you can outrun me, do you?” she grabbed his left hand, feeling electricity as soon as she lead the way, “we need to leave before more come, they know you’re here”

 

She dragged him by the hand, forcing him to speed up to catch up with her. They went to floors down before walking out the streets again.

 

“Where do we run?” he asked her, he was finally cooperating with her.

 

“my car” she turned left, only three blocks to run when they were shot again. A band appeared out of nowhere and shots were coming from the roof of a building, they were surrounded. Clegane and Brienne made an appeareance taking as much felines as they could, as she tried to shield the human from any bullets. They moved together as fast as they could.

 

The human took something out of the bag, probably clever enough to have brought something to defend himself. He car was just a few meters away when felines covered it.

 

“Give us the human” one of them yelled.

 

“Fuck off” the hound yelled before shooting him with silver bullets.  Felines and Lycans were weak to silver, allergic. It damaged vampires too, but not as much.

 

The standoff became brutal, until Gendry shot a feline and something happened, something different. Whatever it was that Gendry shot the feline with, It made it bleed silver and die almost instantly, something regular silver bullets didn’t achieve.

 

He had different type of weapons, deadly ones. No wonder he was a wanted human.

 

“Keep shooting that shit, you cunt” they finally managed to get to her car.

 

“You drive him; we’ll cover you” Brienne said. She didn’t need to be told twice, they were speeding off in the high way driving to the Stark manor, there would be no safer place than Winterfell tonight. They would be chased until they crossed the line to Winterfell district.

 

“fuck”

 

he heard the human curse, turned to look at him when she noticed the smell, blood. He was bleeding, it was too tempting, too powerful. She had never wanted a human’s blood as much as she did now. She had to fight it, she needed to fight it.

 

“you’re hurt”

 

“You don’t say” he chuckled as he removed a shattered glass from his leg, where the main bleeding was, he was also bleeding from his torso, probably straight bullets. He was losing too much blood, probably had an artery compromised. They were still faraway.

 

“You could’ve shot me” she said as she tried to focus on something else, to keep him focused on something else “with that thing, you could have shot me as I dragged you along”

 

“Didn’t feel like doing it” there was that annoying chuckle again “you seem like an important lady vampire”

 

“I’m no lady. Name is Arya”

 

“Arya” he repeated and she liked how her name sounded coming from him.

 

“we’re getting closer” dialing Jon’s number she waited for him to pick up “Jon, I got him. Sandor and Brienne are stopping them from chasing us, send me an escort in case. Get healers, he’s hurt and bleeding badly, get away any that hasn’t been feed! It’s, I’ll tell you later, just do it” she hanged up.

 

“Aw so you important vampires still feed on humans” she heard him ask her.

 

“No”

 

“Then, why did you..”

 

“There’s something about your blood”

 

“What’s wrong with my blood” he asked softly “fuck it hurts”

 

“your blood is something special, is tempting”

 

“So am I tempting you?” he asked with a certain mockery in his tone that annoyed yet amused her at the same time.

 

“Very, you have no idea how bad I’m resisting”

 

“If I make it…”

 

“You’re going to make it” she cut him off declaring what she believed "you are needed to kill the white walkers"

 

“If you’re right, you’ll be the only vampire I would trust” with that he lost consciousness, just as she had reached the gate that was opened for her to get in “Gendry! Gendry!” she shook him with one hand “Wake up”. Jon had all the healers waiting for them and were getting him out of the car as fast as they could to take him to the healing area, a replica of human emergency rooms.

 

She followed them because she wasn’t sure any other vampire could resist that scent, there was too much blood for him to be completely safe. Yes, they had human doctors working for them but vampires were still around. Yet nobody seemed to mention the appeal of his blood.

 

“Femoral artery is losing too much blood, he’s in and out of consciousness”

 

“Won’t make it unless he’s converted, Jon!” one of the vampire healers said.

 

“He’s beyond humans now” Jon was about to make the choice, to call her father or Robb to do the deal. Conversions were much more probable in being successful in these scenarios when it was an older, powerful vampire who did it.

 

“No” he was awake again, the idiot didn’t want to be a vampire but he had no choice in the matter now, he was too valuable.

 

“Her” he whispered “M’lady is too do it” he was out again

 

“I’ve never” she started, she had never converted someone. Not once. She wasn’t even sure enough she had the will to stop once she bites him, to stop and to then give him her blood.

 

“You’ll have to do it, Arya. There’s no other way”

 

She breathed in, before going to him setting next to him looking at his neck. She sniffed again before biting his neck. It would be much quicker that way, she’d seen other conversions. She drank and she swore it was much better than any other type of blood she had had in her long life, it filled her and left her needing more. She wanted more, to fill her thirst but his words kept her grounded “you’ll be only vampire I would trust”. She stopped, before cutting her wrist to drop her blood in his mouth, he came alive then, gripping her and drinking her blood from her wrist and it was a warm feeling, almost pleasurable. She had never felt anything like it before.

 

She was pulled apart after a second, Jon coming in between them. “enough, you need your energy. We could still be under attack if they want him so much”

 

“Take him to the chambers” Jon was ordering his guards

 

“Take him to my chamber” she ordered back “I want to be there when he comes back” with that she followed them as they cleaned Gendry and changed him before placing him on her chamber “place him on my bed” she ordered again. Jon was following her, she had never overridden Jon’s orders before, but she had now. She could see as Gendry's wounds started healing, the process was beginning, she hoped he could resist it.

 

“You’re worried for your first conversion?

 

“No, I’m worried about him”

 

“Why?” her cousin seemed suspicious

 

“There’s something special about him, don’t you smell it?”

 

“He smells the same as any human to me, but you’re right there’s something about him. Beric informed me”

 

“What is it?”

 

“He’s a descendant of one of the first men that turned vampire. He’s a hybrid, in reality, taking more of human than of vampire that he could pass as one. His height and strength is probably greater than any human, maybe his speed too but he probably doesn’t even know. Thoros got his background, he’s a descendant of Robert Baratheon. He was captured by Stannis but managed to escape, a red witch was to use him to make a ritual for Stannis”

 

Robert Baratheon was an ancient vampire, killed by the Lannisters, that had a fondness for human woman. If Gendry was his son, then he was the offspring of one of the most powerful vampires that had ever lived.

 

“I knew he wasn’t just a regular human”

 

“I believe he’s far greater than that, at least to you”

 

“what’s that supposed to mean?

 

“I guess you’ll find out once he awakes”

 

“He’s good at making things, he made this bullets”

 

“Sandor told me about them”

 

“He’ll be a good asset”

 

“He will, now rest but keep your gun near just in case”

 

With that Jon left her room, and she went to look at Gendry. He wasn’t just a regular human, he was an armorer that could be deadly and if the Lannister’s had converted him they could have gotten a powerful ally in him. No wonder they were after him so much.

 

Now Gendry was dead, and dead went to another place before coming back as vampires. He would walk into darkness, for a moment, at least that was what she heard those non pure vampires say. It was still hours away before he would wake up, if he ever did. However, she trusted him to make it, she wanted him to make it. She couldn’t understand it, but she really hoped the conversion was successful.

 

She cleaned herself, changed her clothing and waited by his side. Hours passed and in the middle of the night she felt it, he was coming back she could sense it. She prepared herself next to him, as he opened his eyes and jumped. She stopped him, trying to ease him from the shock.

 

“it’s alright, it’s alright”

 

“I was, the doors, the men with sticks and ropes, the darkness” the guy tried to say, to make sense out of death but death was beyond any comprehension.

 

“You’re back” she said, holding him as she tried to calm him, feeling relieved that he could make it, that he was alive. He could be an important asset in the war, but she was happy he was here for something else.

 

“I was opening this door, it would take me somewhere” he started saying, before clinging to her, he was still scared “I was about to go in but, but you called”

 

“you heard me?”

 

“I did” he nodded, still hugging her and keeping her close “I followed your voice”

 

She pulled away from him “I’m sorry I took your life, some people don’t want this life” he was now cursed to be a vampire for all time.

 

“I… I never had much before” he started to say, probably wondering what was there to live for in this world.

 

“You have me now” she didn’t understand what get her to say that, it just came out. She had this connection with him, even as a human he was appealing and as a new born vampire he still was, he still had that triggering scent in him.

 

It took her a second before it dawned on her. No other vampire found his blood appealing, Jon mentioned him to smell like any other human. The hound also didn’t mention anything when he gave her his clothing to track him when they were looking for him. That appeal was only present to her, it was still only present for her.

 

“Will you be with me?” he asked her, still not letting her go completely. Whatever it was that pulled her to him, he must have felt it too because there was a reason he had trusted her so quick.

 

“Yes” was all she could answer because she had found her mate, and vampires mated for eternity.

 

They still had a greater war coming, enemies hunting them down but she had found him and there was no way she was letting him go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was long, huh?  
> Sorry for this mess... just had to get it out of my head.  
> Comment, fav and follow if you like.


	6. Painting reality

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He's been dreaming about wolves, about a girl and snow. So he paints it all.

He felt uncomfortable, anxious, nervous and, overall, he was bored. He wasn’t fond of social activities, much less the ones where he was the center of attention but he ha to endure this one.

 

He was an artist, he had free time for work as he pleased and never really sticks to the deadlines his agent sets for him. So when it was just inevitable, and he had enough work to do an exhibition, Mott would organize one for him and he would just paint whatever he felt like doing, sculpt things and that was it.

 

He usually did random things that crossed his mind and tried to connect them somehow, maybe through the color palette, materials or something. But this exhibition was different, for the first time he got a topic in his head.

 

It all started when he started dreaming of a snowy place that seemed like an eternal winter land, there was snow everywhere. Next he started dreaming about wolves, wolves in the snow running wild and free as a pack. Then her dreams focused on a certain wolf, the leader of the pack, a she wolf that was much bigger than the rest. He wasn’t even sure how he knew it was a she wolf in the first place, he just did.

 

It all became too much and after a while he needed to let it out, to get it ouf of his head and that’s when he started sketching the wolves, then he started painting what he saw in pastels and watercolors. He then moved onto sculpting, clay wolves that were incredibly detailed and giant wolf heads.

 

Yet he kept dreaming of wolves in the snow until one day a wolf became a girl. He was dreaming of a girl dressed as those warrior princesses from children stories, she was dressed in fur and carried a sword at her hip, she wore a wolf’s helmet on her head while she rode a giant wolf to battle.

 

It was the most amazing and beautiful thing he had seen, and it wasn’t even real, it was a fantasy but it awed him nonetheless. He woke up agitated that night, his fingers itching for brushes, canvases and paint.

 

He worked nonstop until it was done, until all of them were done. He painted the girl he saw in his dreams, but he kept dreaming about her so he continued painting her. He felt as if he was going mad, he was becoming obsessed with it, with her, he could give half his life for her to be real.

 

He was sure he’d found a muse, a fantasy muse and he wished for her to be a real person but there were no warrior princess in this day and age. So he had to deal with it, to only paint her, to engrave her grey eyes in a canvas, to try matching the contrast between her pale skin and dark brown hair through his paintings. It wasn’t enough, but that was all he had.

 

Eventually, one of his good friends, HotPie, showed up to his place worried about him as he had not left his studio apartment for days, too immersed in his work. HotPie was impressed by all his work and he found himself confiding in him about his dreams and how he was obsessing with them. His friend advised him to try and let it go if he couldn’t make sense of it, maybe he needed to let the wolves go, let her go.

 

It sounded so wrong.

 

But he did agree to sell and auction some of his recent creations during the exhibition, most of the sculptures but none of the paintings that had her in them.

 

It was the first big set up one he had done in quite a while, Mott was excited about how much good press they would get. That’s why he was now in a sea of people, receiving compliments about his work and walking around with a champagne glass in his left hand.

 

The main painting was of her, of course.

 

The one he did after the night he first dreamt about her. It was her standing next to the giant wolf, her features cold and sharp as if she were a wolf herself. She was so gorgeous that no matter what he did, he could never make her look as beautiful as she was in his dreams. Yet, that was the only painting he would not sell, no matter what.

 

He was standing there, watching her as someone stood next to him. He sighed, tired of hearing the same compliments over and over again, of faking a smile.

 

“This one is… impressive” a female voice said, he didn’t even turn to face the woman but she sounded young.

 

“Did she come to you in dreams?” he heard the voice asking him and that took him by surprise, turning around he looked down, as the woman was much shorter than him, and his breath got caught.

 

it was her, as much as it could be, but it wasn’t her at the same time. It was a real girl that looked like her, too much.

 

 

They had the same grey eyes, dark brown hair and fair skin only the girl in front of him was wearing a simple white blouse with black pants, clothing much more appropriate for this kind of event instead of the furs and armor she wore in his dreams. Her hair short and cut in a modern asymmetrical way, not the long locks that flew with the wind. However, it was her!

 

He was stunned, scanning her features intensively as she did the same before handing him something while saying “Because I’ve been dreaming about you”  

 

He took it, snapping out of his surprise to see she had handed him a sketch book. He loosened his tie before opening the sketch book filled with drawings of him in carbon pencil. They were all of him, in one he had a bull helmet, in others he was holding a giant war hammer, in others he was wearing some kind of old fashion smock as he pounded metal in an anvil inside a place that looked like a smithy. The last drawing was a portrait of him from the shoulders up, his hair looked messier and he had smudges over his face. That was the only drawing that had any color as she had used a blue pencil to color his eyes.

 

This was too much, the girl of his dreams, as corny as it sounds to say that, was real, in front of him and she had dreamt about him too.

 

What does that mean? Does it even mean something?

 

“It’s weird, isn’t it?” he heard her say “I’ve been having this dreams lately, and I thought I was going mad dreaming about bulls and then the bull became a person wearing a helmet with horns. I tried to draw what I’ve been dreaming to see if it made it stop or something, but it just kept going. Then I saw the news at university about this opening and it had your picture and it was you!” she pointed at him, her voice showing the surprise she felt in that moment.

 

“So I came here! Like to see if you looked like the bull guy in my dreams and I find me here! He watched her wide eyed as she turned around to see all the pictures that were displayed of her “It must mean something! Don’t you think?”

 

He was still to shock to talk so he just nodded.

 

“I don’t think I’ve met you before, but I feel like I _know_ you somehow” this could be totally fucked up, but he felt the exact same way.

 

“I feel the same way too” he whispered, still too shocked to say anything else.

 

“I’m Arya by the way” she extended her hand to greet him and he did the same whispering “Gendry” but she must know that as she knew this was his art display.

 

He took her hand in his and as soon as their skin touched he his dreams again, only this time he was with her. He saw himself wearing the same clothing she had drew him in as she was wearing the ones he often saw on her whenever he dreamt about her. He saw them standing next to each other as they charged into battle followed by an army of people and wolves.

 

He snapped back to reality, still too shocked to do anything, finding himself still holding her hand as she watched him wide eyes.

 

“You saw it too” he declared, because he knew that whatever vision he had had, the same thing happen to her when their hands touched.

 

“Yes, you and me running to battle”

 

“what? How?”

“I don’t know but… it doesn’t feel like a dream, more like a memory but… I can’t explain it. I… would you like to get out of here? I don’t know, I felt like I needed to find you before but know I feel like I need know you. Does it sound completely mad?”

 

Somehow it didn’t sound much crazy at all since he felt the exact same way. All these weeks he had felt the need to look for that girl in his dreams knowing she didn’t exist. However, she was right there in front of him and he felt as if he had known her before even when he was completely sure they had never met in their lives. At least not in this one…

 

That thought alone crossed his mind and if this situation weren’t so incredibly weird he would have discarded it as nonsense, but now that nonsense had more sense in it that what was happening in reality.

 

Somehow he dreamt about her in another world or another life yet she found him in this one.

 

He couldn’t make sense of it. But he could try… “Let’s get out of here”

 

“Don’t you need to be present at your own display?” she asked.

 

“Fuck that, let’s get out of here” he heard her chuckle, finding somehow amusing his lack of commitment to his work.

 

“I know this place, let’s go” she tugged him by the hand, leading him on as they had not let go since they first touched. It felt all too familiar for it to be real, following her around and… the more steps he took the more he felt like this was the revival of something and he had all the intentions of doing just that.


	7. Explanation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She left two years ago and his life was never the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is sort of a continuation of Chapter 4 if you'd like, but can be read as an stand alone story too.  
> Hope you enjoy.

Some days were hard, some were even harder to get by trying to live his life as if nothing had happened, as if she hadn’t left.

 

But today marked the two-year anniversary of her leaving, the day she decided to live without him.

 

She’d been in his life for almost all of it, barely remembering how it was before she was even born since he was only five when it happened. They’d been together ever since and that was what drove her away and made her leave.

 

He knew her far too well, he understood but it didn’t mean it hurts any less or makes it any easier. He’s still here, missing her and trying to understand what more could she had possibly want to find out.

 

He sighed as he kept on tuning a car, his old car, the one he trashed when he was mad when she suddenly left the morning after they were together for the first time, in that same car. That was their first and only time sleeping together.

 

He was still mad at her, he’ll probably continue be upset with her for years until the day she decides to come back, if she ever decides to come back. That was the only thing he didn’t know, if she’d ever come back.

 

Arya had planned it all, carefully. She was his soulmate, she knew him better than anyone so she knew the only way for him to not follow her was breaking him and that’s what she did.

 

It all began the day of her 18th birthday, he knew something was off as soon as he showed up to her house to greet her and have dinner with his family, the air was tense and Jon barely looked him in the eye all night.

 

It was when she dragged him outside he sensed something was going to happen, she’d been quite almost all night which was unusual for her but she said she wanted to leave and go with him somewhere else and he complied, taking her to his garage where they had spent countless afternoons together ever since they were young, when what he felt for her was sibling like love.

 

Because that’s how the soulmate bond worked. It’s love, in different kinds of ways.

 

When they were kids it was sibling like type of love, when they grew up it was a pure friendship bond. He was older, so things changed for him earlier. It was when she came down one morning that he discovered that he no longer saw her as a friend much less like a sister, she was a woman grown and he liked her.

 

Then he loved her as a woman, but he wouldn’t act on it until it changed for her. Because it was supposed to happen, they were told about it since they were kids.

 

It was that on her birthday when she kissed him for the first time and he felt happy, happier than he had ever been in his life, she guided him inside his car not letting him go and when she started to unbutton his shirt he tried stopping her.

 

But he saw it in her eyes, how much she wanted him and he couldn’t fight it, not when he had been fighting for years.

 

That was their first and only time together. After they were done she started dressing herself was when she broke the news to him.

 

“I’m leaving tomorrow and I don’t know when I’ll be back”

 

He was shocked because that was the only time he couldn’t understand what she was talking about, he tried asking her but she kept on.

 

“I’m leaving, Gendry. I don’t want you to follow me, nobody knows where I’m going so you can’t ask anyone. Just forget about me and that whole soulmate shit, get a real life” her voice was cold and it broke his heart, because he never thought that she wanted a life without him until that point.

 

Later on, when he was miserably drunk he started seeing the signs of it. How he always talked about a future that included her, but she never did the same. How she would talk about traveling the world without strings, just to wander off and discover what was beyond this town.

 

He was angry for a while; he still was but it wasn’t as bad as before. He drank himself into oblivion most of the first weeks and cut ties with everyone that reminded her of him. When Jon came to check on him one day one day to apologize for keeping things up from his friend, he yelled at him, everything he wanted to yell and scream at Arya and got into a fight with him. Jon never actually punched back, just dodged and let him vent his anger until he started crying. His friend tried to console him, but he couldn’t and both knew it.

 

He started avoiding the Starks altogether.

 

He even stopped going to visit his father since he always mentioned her, however the one time Robert played an understanding role in his life was when he offered him to work on something new, a new branch of the company that had no Starks involved and implied him being busy all the time. He thanked his father for that.

 

He stopped hanging out with Robb, Theon and Jon.

 

He moved back into Mott’s old apartment, the one they shared when he moved in with him as a toddler. Mott was now living by the coast, finally retired with his new lady wife soulmate the guy met a few years back. He spent a few weeks there after Arya left. His uncle never asked anything, he just understood and so did his wife.

 

Now he was trying to move on, to live a life that didn’t include her but she was present everywhere. She’d marked 20 years of his life, even when she was absent for two she was still there.

 

When days were hard he went to his old habits, fixing cars until he was dirty to the bone, tired and his muscles aching. That was what he was doing now, trying to get pass this horrible day, her day.

 

He couldn’t understand why he was working in his car, it was almost a lost cause after he crashed it into a tree from anger and a low point in his life. But he spent an enormous amounts of money on it since it was a classic, he had to pretty much rebuild the whole car but he just couldn’t get rid of it. Now he was just finishing it since it was almost done.

 

It was the project that somehow kept him sane.

 

He was under the car for a while, working when he noticed the music he was playing stopped suddenly. It was late and no one was supposed to be there, so he grabbed a wrench before rolling out only to be shocked as soon as he sat up.

 

She was there.

 

Sitting on his work table as she used to years ago, her legs crossed and a bag at the floor.

 

“Hello, stranger” when she spoke it made his hair stand on end.

 

Why was she here? After all this time? He knew he was probably looking stupid, his mouth hanging open and his eyes wide open.

 

She must have been nervous; he saw it in her. He still knew her fidgets, she looked down to cover her face with her hair a a bit before raising it up once again, biting her lip.

 

“aren’t you going to say anything?” she asked him but he still couldn’t say anything. He didn’t expect her to show up as if nothing had happened. He watched as he tried to focus on what to do, how to act. In two years she had changed, yet she still look pretty much the same. Her features had sharpened a bit, her eyes were still impossibly grey and her skin was still pale yet a bit sunburned for the redness it showed. Her hair was long, longer than it had never been since it would probably reach her waist if she stood. She was wearing a loose t-shirt, shorts and hiking boots.

 

“You’re back” was the first thing he could say. After imagining what he would say for nights on end, he ended up saying the weakest and obvious thing.

 

“I’m back” was all she said for a while, as she watched him too “you cut your hair”. He had indeed cut it as short as he could without shaving it. It reminded him of the time she’d said how much she liked his long hair.

 

“Arya, why are you here?” he could finally ask as he stood up, crossing his arms and leaning his back to the car.

 

“Because I decided to come home” that annoyed him for some reason, he ran his finger through his short hair before looking at her.

 

“Why are you _here_?” he asked again. She wanted a life without him and she went away to have it and he couldn’t understand what she was doing here again, after telling him that she didn’t want him in her life ever again.

 

She looked down again before getting off the table “I needed to leave, I wanted to leave”

 

“don’t say” he snorted, if she was trying to explain herself then she was doing a lousy job at it.

 

“Let me finish, stupid” that felt familiar and it annoyed him more “You were happy, I wasn’t. You noticed it, don’t say you didn’t but you never understood why”  she began her explanation, for two years he had waited.

We never asked to be soulmates, it was just a fact. We were always Arya and Gendry, ever since I was born I was always with you and I wanted a life where I wanted to be just me, Arya”

 

“You could have told me; I would have understood”

 

“No, you would have wanted to come with me to wherever I planned to go like you always did and I wanted to be alone. I never asked to be matched with a soulmate, it angered me that part of my life was decided even before I was born. I wanted to be with me, just me and discover who I was without you, if I could do things on my own without you having my back constantly”

 

“So you treated me like trash so you could do your self-discovery trip?”

 

“I’m sorry for the way I acted, yes. I shouldn’t have left you like that, I shouldn’t have played with you that way but it was the only way you wouldn’t have gone crazy trying to look after me and you know it” he cursed internally because she was right, if she had just left without saying anything or just announcing it simply and not acting as cold, he would have tried to find her. If he hadn’t been heartbroken he would had searched the earth for her.

 

“so you’re here just to ease your mind?”

 

“I’m not sorry for leaving, I’m sorry for the way I did it” she glared at him “I knew you loved me, you kept saying it while we were fucking each other and I didn’t know what to say or feel. It hurt to leave, but I needed to. I’m sorry for the pain I caused you, I hope one day you can forgive me but I won’t apologize for leaving, Gendry. Not now, not ever”

 

“why are you here, Arya?” he asked again, she was here for a reason beyond apologizing and he knew it.

 

He watched her lift her bag and place it on his work table, taking things out “I was south first, I ask my dad to give a plane ticket and took the first plane to Dorne. I was miserable in Dorne, but I just back packed there for a while, then I took a ship to the Iron Lands and next I went across the Narrow sea, I was in Braavos just back packing, meeting people and working odd jobs to keep traveling”

 

“why are you telling me this?” he sighed and saw her smiling softly.

 

“When I left I wanted to be away from you and everything that reminded me of you, to face hardships and find out if I could overcome it by myself. For a while I stopped thinking about you, having a life that was just mine and mine alone”

 

“Then why did you come back?”

 

“Would you just leave me finish, ugh so impatient as always” he heard her chuckle as she said things she used to say to him all the time “As I was saying, I was being me, free from everything and I was in Braavos doing some meditation at the Faceless Men Temple when I started wondering what were you doing or how were you”

 

He watched as she took small objects and placing them on the table carefully “I tried to ignore it but it started happening more often. One day I was hiking to this mountain and when I reached the top the view was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, the ocean, the sun setting it was just breath taking and…”

 

She stopped midsentence, caught up in the memory “and…?” he asked.

 

“And I discovered that I wanted to share it with no one but you” she looked him in the eyes again, a tear starting to show in her left “I finally realized that I just wanted to share everything with you and only you. Whenever I saw something I liked and ended buying it, I always saved them and as I was watching the ocean I realized I was saving them for you, to tell you the story behind it” she brushed the tear with the back of her hand and he kept watching her, wide eyed opened again because he never expected what she was saying.

 

“And after running away, and travelling half across the world to be away from you and to be just me I realized that the only thing I wanted right then and there, when I was at the most beautiful place on earth was to experience it with you by my side” she cleaned another tear away while he was still shocked by what he was hearing.

 

“It was when it dawned on me that I didn’t care if it was just a soulmate thing or if was meant to be as everyone said. I just knew that _I_ loved you, Gendry and that I was so stupid for…”

 

He didn’t let her finish, because without thinking he had walked to her and kissed her. He kissed her for all the time he had missed her. His hands traveled behind her back to get her closer, because he had missed her too much.

 

And even if he was still hurt and angry at her, he understood why she needed to leave, he always did.

 

They kissed for a while, her fingers running thorugh his hair before locking them behind his neck as she pulled him down before parting away “I’m sorry for hurting you” she said again.

 

“I know”

 

“Can you forgive me?”

 

“I was angry, I’m still angry but I knew why you left I always did, Arya” he looked at her, even when he didn’t say it she knew that he had forgiven her long ago. But forgiveness didn’t always mean the anger would be immediately be gone, it’d take time.

 

“when did you have your love epiphany?” he asked her, still holding her close as she punched him lightly for making fun of her.

 

“Two days ago. I immediately went to the temple to get my things, took the first plane and came directly here” he let out a chuckle because just as she had suddenly left two years ago, she suddenly decided to come back.

 

“you hair is long” he muttered, because it still surprised him, She never liked long hair.

 

“Well, I sort of like it that way, I hate your short hair, though. Never cut it again” he laughed at that.

 

“It’s staying that way, payback” they stayed embraced in each other for a while, observing the other trying to find out different changes.

 

“I’m taking you home, you must be exhausted” he said after a while. If she had decided to come back from Braavos two days ago, it meant she had barely slept.

 

“I am _home_ , I said it before” she placed her hands at both sides of his face, bringing his forehead to touch hers “you’re my home” and he chuckled because what she said sounded like the romance novels she hated so much but it filled him, sending any resentment he had towards her away. H did the only thing he could, he kissed her again.

 

Next thing he knew they were inside his car, stripping each other’s clothes and making love. Their first time was just fucking, this was different.

 

After a while, when both were spent embracing each other she spoke again “Let me stay the night”

 

“Don’t you want to visit your family first?”

 

“I called them every once in a while. I think they were more worried about you than me, they always tried convincing me to come back but I always hanged up when they started so they stopped mentioning you” she caressed his face softly, embarrassed about that “but I needed to leave to realize how much you really meant to me. I’m sorry” she kissed him again.

 

It was going to be difficult, to be able to talk again and be them again without her leaving being an issue but they could work on it.

 

He’d work on it.

 

Because no matter what, he loved Arya. And he didn’t want to be apart from her, again. He’d follow her to the end of the world and he knew it.

 

“I’m starving” she declared after a while.

 

“I think I have something upstairs in my fridge”

 

“You’re living here again?” she asked.

 

“There are things you missed” he declared as he caressed her face before leaning in, trying to make her feel less guilty. Both left the car after a while, putting on back clothes before going upstairs to his apartment above the garage.

 

After a while both were in bed, an empty pizza box and two empty beer bottles in the trash and she was telling him everything she had done while she was away, places she’s been and showing him what she’d been collecting during her trip before both were asleep.

 

When he woke up he felt nervous, thinking everything had only been a dream but she was sleeping next to him and he left out a breath of relieve. He stayed there lying in bed, holding her for a while after he felt her stirring up.

 

“Let’s get out of here, you and me. See the world” she said after a while they had been lying together.

 

He kept quiet for a second, because he knew that for the first time she wanted him there with here from the heart. Not because they were told to be soulmates or magic dictated it, because she truly felt it.

 

She wanted him with her, plain as that.

 

And he will follow her to the end of the world because he didn’t want to be apart from her ever again.

 

“As m’lady commands”

 

 

 

 


	8. Follow the wolf

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gendry goes to get his fortune read.

“Gen, come on you should totally do it!”

 

“I mean, you kinda do, You’re taking forever in finding your soulmate, aren’t you at least a little bit curios?”

 

He sighed as his sisters Mya and Bella were dragging him along the fair.

 

“I’m perfectly fine, I don’t see any problem of not having found my soulmate yet” and that was true, he’d find her when destiny wanted him to find her, besides he didn’t truly believed in fortune telling of stuff like that.

 

“You should do it! Gods know it’s time you get laid!” HotPie decided on being a terrible friend at the moment.

 

“I get laid enough!”

 

“Eww! I don’t want to hear about my little brother’s sex life! I get enough of tumbling into Bella’s because she never locks the door!”

 

“Hey!

 

“For fucks sake, Mya! I don’t want to hear about my sister’s sex life!” he complained again, thanking the fact that he didn’t live with his sisters in the same apartment, him living across the street with his younger brother Edric.

 

For some odd reason they decided to split the houses, and by odd reasons was the fact that their previous place was a constant war zone because girls and boys were too different to get along and live peacefully. So they reached an agreement, they would live near but not together. Besides, rent was much cheaper that way, not that they had money troubles but yet their old living backgrounds made them all hate wasting money. So him and Edric lived on one apartment, Bella and Barra lived across the street and the twins and Barra, the youngest ones, lived with their uncle Renly five blocks down the road on his nice apartment.

 

“I’m curious if it’s a she after all” Edric appeared out of nowhere eating whatever he had been able to buy tonight at the fair, bringing along cotton candy for Bella because she was his favorite.

 

“Just do it, Gendry!”

 

“For fucks sake, fine! If you all stop bitching about It I’ll do it! Where do fuck do I need to go?!” finally both of his sisters stopped pulling him along to stand in front of a few tents that were on surely for fortune telling attractions.

 

“You can choose if you want your fortune read by Melissandre The Red Witch or if you’d like the Fire Priest Thoros to predict your future” Mya said pointing towards the tents.

 

“This is bullshit”

 

“It is not! Last year I got my fortune read here and it said exactly how I would meet Willow” HotPie decided to chirp in a bit “I went in with the fire priest”

 

“The red witch sounds much cooler, doesn’t she?” Bella said “go with her!”

 

“Neither sounds reliable, fortune telling sounds like such a bullshit shit to believe in”

 

“don’t believe in in then, but why are you so scared?” Mya defied him and used the low punch of making him seem like a coward, which he hated so he went on stomping towards the one that HotPie pointed as the Fire Priest tent.

 

They all hollered stupid things at him and he just flipped them off as he got inside the tent.

 

The tent was abnormally big on the inside, all red and orange hues and flames. Was it even safe to have a fire type of show inside a tent on a city fair?!

 

“want to get your future read? Know when you’ll meen your soulmate?” a man wearing an eye patch spoke to him, next to him was a ginger guy sporting a ridiculous man bun.

 

“Kinda why I’m here, isn’t it?”

 

“We got a skeptic here, Thoros” the man with the eye patch chuckled before showing him where he was supposed to sit down “You won’t be once the Lord of Light shows you what you need to know”

 

“This one seems like he’ll be worshiping the Lord after being in presence of his power, doesn’t he, Beric?” the redhead teased before lifting a knife, a long and sharp knife before handling it to him” he didn’t know what to do as he just stared at it.

 

“take it boy, let’s see if the Lord wants to show you first hand” he took the knife by the handle and decided to give it a careful look, nothing out of the ordinary seemed to be on it so he stretched it a litter by sliding his finger softly along the blade.

 

The redhead took the knife back after a while before turning it around and the blade caught on fire.

 

He was looking at the flames now, how did it caught on fire? He examined the knife, there was nothing on it for it to light up?

 

“Look into the flames, Gendry. If the lord shows you something you’ll see it if not he’ll show Thoros” wait a second, how did the man know his name?!

 

He watched the fire, amazed by it but it was just regular fire… like the ones his father lighted when they went over to celebrate Christmas at his house sometimes.

 

“A room full of people, you’ll see what you have to chase.” the priest began “and a chase. That is what the Lord shows me, you’ll chase something there among the sea of people, the mass moving their bodies to a rhythm that won’t let you pass but you shall follow the one the catches your attention to the cold air of winter”

 

He was about to get up and leave. Whatever the guy was telling sounded like total bullshit that’s all hyped to sound mystical and mysterious. It didn’t say anything specific, nothing.

 

He found himself huffing in annoyance at the thought, averting his eyes from the fire as he was paying a stupid guy for nothing just as he expected. What he didn’t expect was the fire to light up even more, making the patched eyed guy back off a bit.

 

“Look at the fire, Gendry, the Lord wants you to look at him”

 

He turned back to see the flames running wild, no longer the quiet and calmed fire that once was and he could swear that he saw something moving inside the flames and it scared the shit out of him, quickly turning to watch the other guys who just encouraged him to keep looking.

 

Again, something definitely moved inside the flames and he tried to look more carefully, to take the shape of it and slowly the shifting image started to look more like a dog… but it was far too big to be any dog, it looked more like a wolf… running in circles as if trying to catch his attention before bolting off in a run turning to look back at him, as if it wanted him to to chase after, before going off again and once it disappeared the flames grew even wilder almost reaching the tent’s ceiling and they turned into a wolf’s head before disappearing completely, only leaving a trail of smoke behind.

 

“You’re lucky, Baratheon boy” how in the world did the guy named Thoros knew his identity? “the Lord showed you the way just as he showed us you’d be coming today”

 

“what does it means?” he didn’t understand shit, what he saw had nothing to do with what the guy told him. What did a wolf had to do with a room full of people?

 

“You’ll see; people always knows”

 

“It just showed me a running wolf!”

 

“Simple boy, follow the wolf” Thoros said grinning.

 

He was out of the tent in an instant, fifteen golden dragons poorer, and completely mind fucked.

 

“So what did it say?” his siblings were outside waiting for him with HotPie.

 

“complete and utterly bullshit” he declared, not wanting to show how messed up his reading had gotten him.

 

“why? Did he tell you that you’ll never met your soulmate?”

 

“No! he told me that I’ll be at dark room full of people” just as he was baffled by that, his sisters seemed to be confused too and eventually they all shrugged it off and went over to see the fireworks at the end of the fair. He didn’t feel like telling everything that he saw in the flames or about the wolf, they would just tease him or worst be dragging him to places that were wolf themed.

 

However, he couldn’t quite stop thinking about what Thoros had said. What the hell was that supposed ot mean? In the days after the fair he kept remembering what he saw…

 

The wolf among the flames.

 

There were no wolves in the city, unless you go to a freaking zoo but one can’t chase them there…

 

Was he supposed to go to a zoo and see the wolves and perhaps his soulmate would be at the same place at the exact time? It sounded stupid.

 

What was more stupid was him taking his little sister Barra to the zoo on a Saturday morning a week later, because he couldn’t quite stop wondering if perhaps he’ll met his soulmate there. It was stupid, and nothing happened, no wolf got loose that he had to chase, there weren’t even wolf toys for a girl to carry and him to chase after. In the end it was just a regular morning with his little sister and him feeling like a fool for trying to follow the bizarre instructions the flames had given him.

 

It was so stupid…

 

There was no way one man can predict your future by looking at the fire! Yet there was no way the fire could show you images and that was exactly what had happened…

 

He was so frustrated by what happened at the fair days ago that when his friends Lem and Anguy called him to go out and get pissed he didn’t hesitate in agreeing on going out. He met his friends by the regular bar. He drank a bit, tried to get his mind of wolves and fire before moving on with his friends to the next place of the night.

 

The next place was more like a club rather than a bar, because Anguy wanted to meet girls and he didn’t really care because perhaps the loud music, crowded place, more friends joining their group or hooking up with a stranger would take the edge of him, making him forget what he was so desperately trying to leave in the back of his mind.

 

After a while the place was so crowded one could barely move and he struggled on getting to the bar to order a drink. He was pretty sure the place was breaking some kind of law about the capacity of people allowed inside, there was no way so much people in one place was safe if anything happened. Once he finally reached he knew he had to wait a while before the bartender could get his order and he just stayed there, trying to press in getting the attention of said bartender when something caught his eye.

 

Much to the far left of the bar there was something going on. A girl, he could see her profile clearly, was trying to order something, trying to get the bartenders attention by jumping on her feet and raising her voice in a non-annoying but rather cute way. After a while of waiting for her order to be taken to just being completely ignored over again she started frowning, huffing and jumping even higher while waving a bill in her hand. She was a short girl that stood out for some reason among all the people at the bar, there was something intriguing about her, the alcohol in him kept saying that perhaps he should try to get her number or something…

 

He watched amused as she muttered a “fuck this” that he could clearly make out before she reached over the bar, grabbed a bottle of beer, leaving the money for the bartender to get after he yelled at her not to do that.

 

He watched, not hiding his grin, as the girl opened the bottle, took a gulp, and told the bartender to do his job better before turning to leave and that’s when the smile of his face disappeared.

 

The girl was wearing some kind of shirt that left her back bare and she had a tattoo…

 

A wolf tattoo on her left shoulder.

 

It was clear, he could see it as for some magical reason in that crowded hell of a club nothing stood in the line of vision between her back and him.

 

She was making her way in the crowd of people, with her beer bottle in hand and he was just completely mind blown.

 

The crowded placed.

 

The mass of people.

 

The wolf.

 

There was no way this was it… he was still in a shocked state when he heard someone asking what he wanted to drink and that got him to react and finally his feet could move.

 

He started making his way after her, thanking his height that allowed him to tower almost everyone making it easier for him to look after her.

 

There was something about her, the way she carried herself with grace as she made her way through the crowd that fascinated him and all he had to do was look at her hair bobbing up and down as she walked. She made a turn to the left part of the place and he followed, a few meters behind. He watched her as she stopped at a one point only to make her way to the back door and disappeared completely behind it.

 

He made his way to the door, cursing loudly when it became harder and almost tossing a guy that stood in his way. He opened the back door and walked out, getting hit by the chill air of the night as he was out in the alley behind the bar. He looked for her but she was nowhere in sight, as if she had just disappeared into thin air.

 

“You’ve been following me” he turned and there she was, appearing out of nowhere. He looked at her and felt something inside of him twist and burn at the same time.

 

Was the way he was feeling the confirmation that this girl with the wolf tattoo was his soulmate?

 

Or maybe it was that he was a little bit drunk himself?

 

Or both?

 

“yeah” was the only thing he could say. She walked to him, slowly, with caution as she scanned him. She was short, skinny to a fault but strong muscles could be noticed with the dim light of the alley. She was almost bare of makeup and her eyes were dark and sharp framed by the side fringe she wore, her hair was short and it appeared to be styled in a spiky way in the back.

 

“Why have you been following me?” she crossed her arms, raising her chin a bit in a way to make her more intimidating, which she did, but it also made her look sexier in his opinion.

 

Alright, he needed to sound like a normal person and not like a drunk creep which could be pretty difficult considering he just chased after a girl he didn’t know based on the predictions of a fire priest and the fact that he was slightly drunk.

 

“Well, you see” he scratched the back of his neck as he tried to figure out how to say it.

 

“well?”  

 

“Do you believe in destiny?” nervousness made him just say the stupidest thing ever, he watched her as she narrowed her eyes.

 

“what does destiny has to do with you been a creep?”

 

He took a step back, covering his face with his hands for a second before passing one through his hair and he breathed in hard “Look, days ago I went to this stupid fair with my siblings and they forced me to go to this fortune teller shit” he looked down for a second before continuing “and the guy there made me look at this stupid fire and I saw a wolf running, and the guy said that I would be following a wolf in a place full of people”

 

He looked up to look her in the eye, lifting a hand to point the door to the club “And I was in there, trying to get a drink when I see this hot girl trying to be noticed by the bartender and I thought that maybe I should introduce myself to her, offer to buy her something in that damn overcrowded bar when she decides that she’s tired of waiting and took matter into her own hands! And I’m there, watching her, amused as fuck, and she turns around and there it is!”

 

She was looking at him with a neutral expression so he kept going “she has this pretty awesome tattoo of a wolf’s head and I’m shocked to the core! Because I’m there in a place full with people that won’t let me pass as I chase a wolf placed on a hot girl’s back! While I’m thinking that there’s no way this is happening!”

 

“So you chase after me because I have a tattoo and a priest told you to do it?!”

 

He could only nod as he scratched the back of his head “I know it sounds completely weird and crazy, but I swear that’s the reason”

 

“And why would a priest tell you to follow a wolf?” she asked, narrowing her eyes a bit as she took a step forward slowly.

 

He felt himself blushing, the redness creeping up his neck to his face “Because he said that’s how I’d find my… soulmate”

 

“Oh” that’s all she said at that moment, her face showing surprise before walking closer to him, still a respectable distance between them but now he could see her better with the lights of the alley. She was way prettier up close.

 

“Well, you’re hot and I may be attracted to the weird creep that followed me inside a club which is totally sick and fucked up but I was told something would happen and there’s only one way to prove it” she shrugged as she said it.

 

“My brother sees things, you see, just like that priest of yours and he said my soulmate is a bull and that he’d follow me around. So if you got horns hiding around this might be a good time to show them” she smirked. For some reason he felt like she was taunting him, as if she didn’t believe what that supposed brother of hers had told her about her soulmate.

 

He smirked, he actually laughed a bit to himself and saw her getting angry at that “Why are you laughing, stupid?”

 

“I’m laughing because I can’t believe this is actually happening” he said as he pulled out a necklace chain from the inside of his button up shirt, a chain he never got off because it was the first thing he bought as a treat for himself with his savings. He pulled out the chain out of his neck to show it to her, handing it to her so she could watch it properly.

 

She took it with caution and he heard her gasp as soon as she caught sight of the pendant it had: a silver bull’s head.

 

“Well, fuck me!” she yelled before laughing, giving the necklace back to him “Guess, that’s it. I have a wolf, you have a bull that pretty much fulfill those stupid prophecies, don’t you think?”

 

he rolled a bit on his heels “Seems like it”, he scratched the back of his neck again as he usually did whenever he was nervous “Look, I might still be hesitant about it and I might be a bit drunk, but I guess like maybe would you like to go and grab a bite with me?”

 

“You want to confirm us being soulmates and that shit?”

 

“A bit, but up inside I was planning on asking you for your number or inviting you a drink anyways. I’m drunk, you’re hot as fuck…” that got her to blush and he smiled feeling proud of himself “so fuck it! Let’s go out, see what we get out of it”

 

“That’s it? What if we’re not compatible after all?” she asked him with a raised eyebrow.

 

“What if we are? We’ll never know unless we try out!” it only made perfect sense in his buzzed brain.

 

“So that’s it? That’s your logic?”

 

He could only shrug “You can’t argue with drunk logic” she chuckled at that, shaking her head as if she couldn’t quite believe what was happening. Extending his hand to hers “I’m Gendry, by the way” he introduced himself.

 

It took a while, an eternally amount of seconds of her analyzing him, his hand before she snorted, smirked and shook his hand back and he could swear he felt electricity at the touch of her skin and if the surprised look in her eyes didn’t lie, she felt it too.

 

“I’m Arya” it was a pretty name, she started walking along with him “I’m starving, you better invite me someplace good”

 

“You’ll see” He smiled, thinking that it actually didn’t matter if whatever the fire showed him was true in the end because he felt like this, meeting Arya, was going to be quite something in his life.


	9. Map Skin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The skin was supposed to be the soulmate map, every part of it was going to be marked by the marks your significant other has on their body.

It’s not as if she had waited for it, she knew it was supposed to happen because the odds of it happening were absurdly high.

 

95% of the world population have a soulmate.

 

She may have wanted to be part of the 5% of the unmatched ones, but the gods were never good to her so why would they start being nice to her 18th name day?

 

Yet she didn’t expect what she woke up to on her 18th birthday.

 

The skin was supposed to be the soulmate map, every part of it was going to be marked by the marks your significant other has on their body. That meant birthmarks, scars, injuries, tattoos, piercings and even temporary marks like ink marks showed up on the other person. They all appeared on your soulmate’s body as a reflection. All but makeup appeared, nobody knew why makeup didn’t show on the other person but nobody really cared.

 

Each person would have a set of its own marks and the ones that reflected the other person’s skin. The soulmate marks were curious, at least to her. Bruises appeared and faded, disappearing completely. Injuries like cuts appeared as faded scars in a sort off silvery hues that disappeared eventually. Scars, permanent ones, were more complicated, it depended on the intensity of them.

 

They all appeared when you turn 18, but both soulmates need to reach the age mark to be able to see the map. It took her half-brother Jon two years after his 18th birthday to get the marks in his body, bruises that appeared out of nowhere, scars that looked as if fire had made them, a cut on his abdomen that stretched from side to side. He wondered all the time about his soulmate, part of his particular sulking was about it most of the time, but he has yet to find his.

 

Her sister Sansa had subtle marks, birthmarks that weren’t hers appeared on her body once she turned 18 as well as small cuts on her fingers that showed up all the time and disappeared quickly. The most prominent one was the one on her neck, a birthmark that looked like a rose. It was such a particular birthmark that when Sansa spotted someone with that same mark on the drawing class she had signed on as an elective course during her first year of college, she just knew. That was how Margaery started appearing on family pictures.

 

The most important part was finding your soulmate. Some people went mad looking for them and others just let fate do its job. The other soulmate fact was that only their touch could erase the marks, because the map would have fulfilled it’s job, it would have lead you to the treasure and it was no longer useful.

 

Her older brother Robb was a proof of the map skin being useful, he had found his soulmate last year in the funniest way possible. Jeyne was little prone to injuries, so Robb barely got any marks at all, just a few birthmarks and occasional cuts but one day she wrote on her hand the time and date of an appointment and Robb happened to be doing nothing when he noticed the writings appearing in his hand. He was convinced his soulmate wanted to meet him, so he drove all the way to the Riverlands, and waited… and to distinguish his soulmate he used a purple marker to place a giant X on his left cheek. He literally put an X, find the spot, on his skin map.

That was how Jeyne and Robb happened. They got married a few months ago.

 

She always feared how the marks would show up on her body. Perhaps she had a crazy soulmate, full of marks like Robb’s “X” to be able to notice his, or her, soulmate. Or maybe she had one like her, one who didn’t feel any particular hope nor joy in finding a soulmate. Is she had one, cool. And if she didn’t, it was cool too.

 

But she never expected what she got.

 

She woke up on her birthday earlier than anyone, even before the sun had risen, to be able to see herself in the mirror before someone looked at her marks first.

 

She had locked her bedroom door so Sansa wouldn’t barge in, which was unlikely because her sister knew she would probably want some privacy to explore the map first, and they were the only ones in the apartment they shared in King Landing’s where they attended college since Marg didn’t stay the night. Yet she checked the locks before stripping out of her pajamas, leaving only her panties on, to stand in front of the mirror to see in horror what her body looked like.

 

She gasped when she noticed the tattoo.

 

It was of a bull’s head, angry, stubborn, furious and of respectable size on the left side of her torso. And it wasn’t the only tattoo, on her forearm was stag tattoo with a symmetrical linear background, on her calf she saw a lettering tattoo that said “ours is the fury”, and a raven placed

on her hip. What the fuck was that supposed to mean?! Weren’t that the old Baratheon’s house words? From like a thousand years ago?!

 

There was a silver cut on her thigh, bruises on her arms and torso, birthmarks she didn’t had before, a pink line that indicated a cut on her right cheek that would eventually disappear. She lifted her hand to touch her face only to notice that it was now covered in a silver veil that indicated permanent marks on the tip of her fingers and palms. Both hands were the same.

 

There were more marks, silver marks on her forearms. Red and pinks that indicated cuts and blues that were bruises.

 

What the fuck was her soulmate? An MMA fighter?

 

Or he really just didn’t give two shits about marking his soulmate?

 

She walked closer to the mirror, to look at the horrible bull, which in reality was a pretty awesome tattoo but she wasn’t going to admit it. The gods really did something this time, giving her a soulmate that shared her liking for tattoos.

 

Giving a closer look she passed through a hundred emotions of shock, pity, doubt only to flip when she noticed a silver dot on her right nipple. The bastard had a piercing there, a fucking piercing.

 

That was it, she screamed in anger as she put back the top of her pajama, leaving her bedroom in rage and waking up her sister in the process.

 

Weeks passed after the initial shock, a day of blind rage when Sansa and Margaery pretty much locked her up so she wouldn’t go to the closest tattoo parlor to ink a giant “fuck you” on her forehead.

 

Sansa even arranged a load of clothing that would cover her body if she decided to do it. Also backed her up in saying that she had fallen While camping whenever someone wondered or asked about her marks.

 

Her brother Jon was the only one who knew the truth, apart from Sansa and Margaery who pretty much stripped her out to see the marks for themselves. She facetimed him, vented everything out and he listened, calmed her and spent hours on the phone with her as she let it all out and showed him most of the marks, as more disappeared and appeared each day. She knew she was being childish about it, yet she couldn’t help it.

 

She became careful of not marking her body any more, to not alert the guy of her existence. But probably the bastard didn’t even care. Those marks weren’t desperate attempts of making the soulmate recognizable; the cuts, bruises and tattoos were signs of someone who didn’t give a shit. That annoyed her and intrigued her at the same time.

 

A wild guess was that the person she had being matched with hated being a soulmate, just like her but she wasn’t as selfish as the guy in marking the body all over, to remind the other person of the fate that was decided upon them.

 

It felt as if her body was no longer her own.

 

She wanted to claim it back, to make it feel hers and no longer his…

 

 

It was the middle of the night when an idea crossed her mind, she spent the entire night sketching her plan.

 

“I’m surprised you took this long to act” Sansa laughed when she told her what she had in mind to do and immediately got on board with her plan and went with her to the tattoo parlor she had made an appointment with.

 

A couple of painful hours later, Sansa was complementing her new tattoo as she held a mirror so she could look at it. On her back, under her left shoulder she now had a gorgeous wolf she called Nymeria. The tattoo artist was good and managed to ink every detail she had drawn on the sketch she had made last night. Maybe it was faith that she was an art student who could sketch her own tattoos.

 

Now they were mostly even, he would have a mark that was hers and only hers that would make her presence known. She barely had any freckles or birthmarks and her scars were just few and little for scrapes she got as a child, nothing big nor noticeable to stand out and make him know “hey this is from your soulmate”.

 

Ever since her birthday, bruises still showed up all the time but at least no more piercings, tattoos nor silver scars. Yet, something still bothered her, she wanted some form of revenge because who knows how long it would take that stupid idiot to notice the new tattoo he now had on his back.

 

Yes, it felt amazing having art, a mark of her own, on her body. It made her body a bit more hers again, but still something was missing. She told Sansa that while she was helping her in putting some ointment and changing the cover of her new tattoo one night.

 

“Why don’t you mark your body with something so not him?” Margaery said from the kitchen as she prepared something to eat for the three of them since none of them felt like going out that Friday.

 

“Like what? I don’t even know how my soulmate is like?” she said as she tried to scratch but not really scratch the itchiness her tattoo gave her for only Sansa to slap her hands every time.

 

“Well, we know it’s a boy” Sansa added “And that he’s kind of like you, into tattoos and trouble only he doesn’t have your natural ability to get away unscratched or so it seems”

 

“how can you be so sure” She just had to ask, she wasn’t even that sure “That it’s a guy?”

 

“I think it’s pretty obvious, Arya. The type of tattoos are pretty macho like, the bruising and cuts. I think it’s a guy, if not you have a hell of a tomboy as a soulmate” her sister had a good point. She suspected her soulmate of being a “he” but she was never sure.

 

“I really think is someone you’d have something in common, I even bet he’s like all broad and tall like the guys you like from movies! I bet he’s into leather jackets, aggressive sports and all that stuff too” Sansa teased and she threw hew a used napkin. Yeah, she may have a knack for guys like that on tv shows and movies but she never quite thought that her soulmate could be like that.

 

“I don’t really care what he’s like because I mean, we’re supposed to get along, aren’t we? That should be the important thing! Like, I’ll meet him eventually but I want him to know he’s an ass for not giving shit! I would’ve been courteous at least, inform first hand of my intentions of having a tattoo!”

 

“Get revenge, mark your body with something so not him but all over! On the most obvious parts!” Marg entered the living room bringing the skillet with her to place it in the middle of their dining table, too lazy to serve each one their dish of carbonara. Sansa was the one that served the plates while she set the table and Marg brought wine.

 

“As much as it is tempting I don’t have the money to get a sleeve tattoo, nor the will since it stings like a bitch. Though, I’m getting a new one soon, already made my appointment” Nymeria already hurts and itches like hell, there was no way a sleeve tattoo was coming next but a small tattoo might. Maybe a constellation, or snowflakes that reminded her of home in Winterfell or something related to fencing.

 

They spent dinner trying to find a way of revenge, what her next tattoo could be and she tried convincing Margaery to punch her to make him have a black eye, Sansa vetoed that idea.

 

It was during their ice cream dessert time while watching Thor when Sansa had an epiphany “I know! I know what you can do!”

 

“what?”

 

“Body painting! Like something so not him, so not you! Something girly and everywhere! I have my paintings and sharpies in my room, me and Marg can free draw anything on the visible parts and even nonvisible parts!” It was a very interesting idea…

 

“Roses, vines! Everything that can contrast the bull and we can point to the wolf to make sure he notices it! It’s brilliant, Sans!! And we can actually draw!” Margaery clapped as both girls went to look for the brushes, paintings and markers. It was a perfect idea; she was on board immediately.

 

Sansa was majoring in business, but took classes of fashion illustration and fashion design so her sister was pretty good at drawing. It may be the only thing they have in common, apart from their liking of hawaiian pizza, the fact that they liked to draw and paint.

 

Margaery was an interior design student, she could draw and had a thing for drawing flowers and making flower arrangements, which were the cause of Sansa’s cuts in her fingers, they were made by the thorns of the flowers Marg liked to work with. The drawing class they met was an illustration workshop open to students from any major.

 

She found herself stripping out of her sweatpants and shirt, left only clad in her undies. Minutes later she was being painted on, the girls decided on doing rose vines on her legs that went up the side of her body, her arms, all the way up her neck. Sansa took things more serious in painting the rose vine on the left side of her face so the bastard would have to go out with it in public.

 

Margaery made sure to make a rose vine trail that pointed were Nymeria was. On her right shoulder Marg painted a wolf surrounded by roses, using every vibrant color they had in hand.

 

Her body became a canvas of a very intricate artwork of roses and wolves, she looked at herself in the mirror as they made it, squirming when they passed over a ticklish part to be yelled at to stay still.

 

“want to leave a written post?” Sansa asked and she nodded. She really wanted to tell something to the bastard. She may have had to stay the whole night awake for the paint to dry properly, so they decided to make a movie marathon of the MCU and gush over Thor, because who wouldn’t?

 

She kept the paint on her body for the whole weekend she spent locked up in her apartment binge watching on Netflix, being careful of not ruining it and giggling every time she caught up a glimpse of the **_“Be careful, asshole”_** Sansa had written her stomach with her pretty girly handwriting. She took extra care on Monday during shower to scrub herself clean and when she went to her history class nobody could tell she had been and ode to roses a while ago.

 

On Tuesday she woke up unusually early, she had classes during the afternoon so she could sleep in a bit but she needed to go to the toilet first. She sat down, yawning and growling when the sunlight hit her and that’s when she noticed it.

 

On her forearm… there was a new mark on her map skin.

 

**“I’m sorry”**

 

The letters weren’t rushed, the handwriting was clear, big enough to be legible and intentional. He wanted her to notice the writing. She stood there, shocked and not knowing what to do so she just kept looking at the writing in her left arm. It may have been a long time but suddenly more marks started appearing, this time on her thigh.

 

**“Nice wolf”**

 

She didn’t want to feel happy about the fact that he had just complimented her tattoo but she did; she was going to deny it if anyone asked.

 

**“Make us even”**

 

That kind of got her out of her stupor. Was he encouraging her to get more tattoos? To bruise and injure her body just like he did? To make him pay?

 

What the fuck was that supposed to even mean?! Was he giving her permission as if she needed it?

 

Perhaps she was overreacting, or maybe it was the surprise of finally being in contact with her stupid soulmate, or the fact that it was terribly early and she hadn’t had her coffee yet but a wave on anger consumed her and she grabbed the first pen she could reach, a red one, to answer him back.

 

 _“I do what I want_ ”

 

she wrote in angry, hushed, red and bold letters, double marking it to make them stand more. Hopefully the bastard would see it if he hadn’t covered his leg yet, she waited.

 

Slowly, a smudge appeared and disappeared as if he was erasing what he wrote before finally writing the most he had written, this time long sentences were plastered on her skin in a nice, small but legible handwriting.

 

**“Of course you do. I’m sorry for ruining you, I didn’t want to mark your body as I did, I didn’t want to be an asshole I just didn’t know you existed”.**

 

It didn’t make any sense. It was too big of a chance to be matched. He may be, as she assumed older, but what? Was he that impatient or pessimist to just no longer give a fuck and assume he was one of those without a soulmate. Jon had to wait for two years before his marks appeared on his map skin, Robb had to wait a few months.

 

 _“I exist, stupid. Couldn’t you wait_?” she wanted to chastised him for it, for not waiting and deciding to do whatever the fuck he wanted without considering her opinion or life for that matter.

 

It took a while, she was absolutely sure he was reading her as they were, finally, talking now and she was positive he was going to answer her to give some sort of explanation.

 

**“I did wait”**

 

She was about to insult him when more marks appeared and she was left speechless.

 

**“Five years”**

 

five?! FIVE?!

 

She didn’t know how long he had had the tattoos, but he was already over 23 years old. Was he 30? 40? Had she been matched with some creepy biker? Many scenarios went over her head for the longest of times and she just needed to get them out.

 

**“I’m sorry, m’lady. Gotta go to work”**

 

The bastard had just dropped a huge bomb on her and just had the dare of leaving?! She was about to write the giant fuck of on her forehead when Sansa’s voice of “that’s immature, Arya” sounded in her head.

 

She settled for a _“Do not call me m’lady. Stupid”_ on her hand in purple.

 

That was the one and only time they had some sort of contact in a while. Over the next few weeks she noticed the amount of bruising stopped, barely any cuts. They just happened sporadically now. It made her wonder what type of things he did to get them? Did he used to get into fights occasionally?

 

Everything was fine, smoothly as it could be and even kind of boring. At least, that was what she thought of before going to bed last night after finishing a history essay. When she sat down on her bed to stretch she notice a writing in her arm.

 

Not one, but many.

 

Her right arm was covered in “I’m sorry” “I’m really sorry” “I can explain”. Immediately she stood up, noticing there was a longer writing on her thigh she decided to ignore for the time being as she ran towards to her full length mirror only to gasp.

 

Her body was covered in bruises and cuts. Her face, arms, torso and looked injured as if she had been in an accident…

 

Immediately she reached to read what he had written on her thigh surprising herself at the angst and worry she felt towards her soulmate at the moment. It was evident he had been through something serious.

 

The first time they talked he had a clear, clean and legible handwriting. This time it was rushed, wobbly and it looked as if it had cost him to write to apologize. She also noted that there were two different handwritings, the ones on her arm were different, more round, short and less clear. Probably he had asked someone to write on him but he had written the thigh part himself.

 

**“I had an accident while driving my bike last night. Didn’t mean to, I’m sorry for the bruising. Please don’t be mad for ruining your body again. I’m sorry.”**

She went for the purple sharpie she had taken the habit of keeping by her night stand. Where could he read it simply? She went for thigh, underneath of what he had written.

 

_“Are you okay?”_

 

She could be childish and selfish sometimes, but she wasn’t a bitch. She wouldn’t get mad for the bruising she got after her soulmate’s injuries.

 

“Hey, Ar do you want to…oh my god! What happened?!” Sansa yelled as she noticed how she looked that day. Running to her to examine her body, the injuries.

 

“He was in an accident!” she felt despair… was he okay? He had to be, right? He had written to her after the accident? But how serious was it?

 

“Gods, is he okay? I mean… how bad is it?! Has he told you? Is he …?” She had commented on the little exchange she’d had with her match to Sansa days ago, not really wanting to share it but it had slipped.

 

“I don’t know!”

 

“I think his left arm is broken or is the most injured. Look at the bruising there” Sansa remarked and indeed there were more marks on that extremity of her body. It was logical, someone else had written on his free arm as he couldn’t do it himself.

 

“Ar, your leg!”

 

she sat down again, Sansa next to her this time as she pulled the boy shorts she used for sleeping the higher she could.

 

**“Broken arm”**

 

“He’s meant to be hospitalized, isnt’ he? He’s to banged up!” Sansa kept examining her, probably thinking how to cover the most obvious bruises.

 

“ _What happened?”_

 

**“Car cut in my lane, had to dodge and fell off my bike. Sorry for troubling you”**

 

_“Stupid, don’t be. Glad you’re alive”_

 

It was a shock to her, what she had wrote without much thought. She was really glad he was okay. For the first time she actually noticed that there was some sort of comfort knowing he existed even when his mere existence annoyed her half the time, it was the fact that she knew that no matter what someone was there for her.

 

**“Thank you, m’lady”**

 

_“Call me lady one more time and I’m going to make you fall off your bike!”_

 

A chuckle next to her caught her by surprise, she turned to see her sister grinning at her “Seems like someone is getting along with her soulmate”

 

“Shut up!”

 

“Breakfast is ready; I’m going to pick up Marg. I have some time to cover your bruises with concealer if you want to go out today”

 

“I’m staying in today, don’t feel like dealing with people asking about what happened” with that Sansa left her as she lied down on her bed again thinking about how bad her soulmate must be.

 

She wanted to know…

 

She sat back up again to notice the scribbling on her arm was fading away, meaning he was erasing it, going for it she went to write on her leg, probably his next task to erase.

 

 _“Does it hurt badly?”_ she wrote under their previous conversation, almost too high on her tight to be read properly, so she went for something to wipe off what was already written before.

 

It took a minute, two at most, when his writings disappeared before new ones showed up.

 

 **“The arm mostly, loving painkillers** ” she chuckled.

 

_“High much?”_

 

**“Not even close enough”**

 

 _“You should get some rest”_ he was probably in a lot of pain trying to answer her.

 

 **“wait!”** was written almost immediately.

 

_“?”_

 

**“Thank you”**

 

_“For what?”_

 

**“For not being angry at the bruises I caused you this time”**

 

_“I’m not a bitch, bull. Glad you’re alive”_

 

**“Thank you m’lady”**

 

_“Do not call me m’lady, stupid bull”_

 

With that their little conversation ended for the time being. The next day she woke to find a small “good morning” on her calf. That way a tradition of talking to each other though the map began, every morning they talked a bit and found something about each other.

 

She learned he worked as a mechanic as a child, the marks on her hands were the callouses his fingers had developed. He had a lot of siblings, which was the main reason he held several odd jobs before, to help support them.

 

He used to practice boxing, earning him the various bruises but ever since he found out about her he stopped, only trained younger people on the gym he had opened with a friend a while back.

 

She told him about her brothers, that she practiced fencing and asked him what he did when he woke up with his body covered in flowers. He said it had been a total surprise since he had never noticed the few birthmarks that had appeared on him, nor did he had noticed Nymeria as he hadn’t been shirtless around the gym or anything. He got teased to death when he showed up to work that day and she told him he deserved that.

They had learnt a bit about each other but none of them actually had asked the important questions and truth be told, she wanted to ask him where he lived, how old he was and if he wanted to meet someday.

 

She kept spending more and more time talking to him to the point her sister and Margaery teased her endlessly.

 

“So, when are we going to meet the bull?” Sansa asked her one day during breakfast.

 

“Don’t know”

 

“Have you asked him his name?”

 

“Nope”

 

“Ar, you’re the only person who talks with her soulmate all the time and still hasn’t ask his name! I mean, don’t you want to meet him?” Marg asked her as she served herself some peach juice

 

“What if he doesn’t want to meet me?”

 

“Sis, the guy pretty much writes to you every single chance he has! He’s desperate to talk to you! Who knows how long he’s waited!” eventually the girls changed topic and asked her if she wanted to go with them the next day to the fair. She couldn’t go since she had an appointment for a tattoo at 6.

 

That night she finished the sketch she had made yet she still wasn’t sure where she wanted it, it was a small design but the shape of it made it kind of difficult to place. She was imagining where to put it when a wild thought crossed her mind and she just knew!

 

**“I must say, you really surprised me”**

 

That was what was waiting for her when she woke up two days after she had her new tattoo, written on her left leg. The bull had just gotten his cast removed the day before so the tattoo had been covered for him, waiting for it to be revealed. It was a sword on her wrist, a thin one just like the ones she used for fencing.

 

_“What do you think?”_

 

**“It’s amazing!”**

 

_“Sketch it myself!”_

 

**“Does it have a name too?”**

 

_“Needle”_

 

**“Of course it is. Your tattoo artist is good”**

 

_“Beric is awesome”_

 

**_“Beric Dondarion from the Brotherhood tattoo parlor?!”_ **

 

_“You’ve heard of them?”_

 

**“Umm yeah, he has tattooed all of mine. So you live in King’s Landing?”**

 

_“Yeah, you?”_

 

 _“Yeah…”_ that was the end of their conversation apparently as he stopped writing and so did she since she was struggling to grasp that information. The city was big but it made it plausible to meet him. He didn’t write at all that day, nor the next and she made no attempt to contact him either.

 

By the third day a message was waiting for her on her left arm as soon as she woke up, right under her sword tattoo.

 

**“I was wondering if you’d like to meet one day. We don’t have to if you don’t want but maybe someday I’d like to meet you”.**

 

She was well aware of his schedule; he woke up very early so it was probably a while she’d had that message on her arm.

 

_“The Brotherhood, 3pm”_

 

It was a simple answer and she didn’t dare to look if there was an answer all day, she just went to the place she had indicated when it was time. She was about 20 minutes early when she was walking just a few meters away when she noticed someone was waiting in front of the shop, a guy whose face she couldn’t see since his back was facing her as he was leaning on a bike.

 

The guy was tall, that she could notice as she got closer and his hair seemed to be a tag long and messy from being under a helmet. Was that guy her soulmate?

 

She uncovered her arm before arriving, to see if there was something because just there she felt brave enough to see it.

 

**“I’ll be there”**

 

That gave her a bit of courage…

 

“Bull?” she called and saw the guy tense in his place for a mini second as he turned.

 

“m’lady?” his voice was deep and it surprised her, just as the big deep blue eyes that were staring at her.

 

“Do not call me m’lady!” his eyes went wide at that as she smacked herself mentally for saying that as he chuckled a bit.

 

The silence was awkward so she kept herself busy by looking at him, he was really tall and broad, he was wearing a leather jacket that did things to her.

 

Marg and Sansa were right about his physical description, they never mentioned shaggy black hair but they pretty much got it right. They’d tease her to death once they meet him…

 

“I’m Gendry” he offered his hand, breaking their analysis of the other.

 

She looked at his hand for a second before taking it “Arya”.

 

“Arya” he repeated after her, his handshake was firm and she could feel the callouses in his warm hand, immediately missing it once they let go.

 

 “Nice to finally meet you” she watched him as he suddenly made a funny face, as if he was thinking too hard while he ran his hand through his hair before he placed it at the back of his neck, suddenly looking nervous and scaring her a bit

 

“Look, I really want to say this in person. I’m sorry, I’m really sorry for the trouble I gave you, the bruises and tattoos you never asked for. I swear I didn’t know you existed, I had been waiting for over five years when I gave up and got my first tattoo last year. I really thought I was soulmateless until one day I wake up covered in flowers and I was so happy, I swear! Yet I knew how big of an asshole I must’ve looked in your eyes for what you found the day of your birthday. I’m sorry” he looked down in embarrassment, fidgeting in his place.

 

“Why the Baratheon words?” he raised his head in surprise at her question.

 

“It’s kind of a long story”

 

She shrugged her shoulders “Well, go with me to make my next tattoo appointment and then you tell me all about your tattoos” she felt him release the breath he had been holding.

 

“Okay” he showed her a side smile that made her stomach turn into knots which was ruined again with that thinking face that was kind of adorable yet angering at the same time “I still want to say, I’m sorry for troubling you”

 

She shoved him softly at that, she was tired of his apologies “It’s alright, you had lost hope it’s not your fault and it’s not like they’re permanent anymore…” she blushed at the implication of that, he’d have to touch them for the marks to disappear. He went pink too at her imply.

 

“Right…” he started… “It’s going to be quite sad for Nymeria to disappear, everyone at the gym has compliment her”

 

she couldn’t help but smile at his comment “well, maybe one day I can sketch one for you”

 

“I’d like that very much, m’lady” that earned him a punch on the arm “ouch!” he laughed and so did she while muttering a “stupid” that held no ill.

 

“So what you say, you coming with me?” she started walking towards the parlor’s entry and he followed her close.

 

“What are you planning on getting this time?”

 

“A heart tree”

 

“why?”

 

“I’ll tell you over some lunch while you explain to me the meaning of yours, deal?” she said as she opened the shop.

 

“Deal” she couldn’t help but smile at his answer.

 

The map had worked and she had found her soulmate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while but I just had to get this out of my head. It's not the best nor the most original but I had to get it out of my system. It's the first one I've written since my computer died a while back and all of my stories with it, so now I'm in the process of remaking everything again and I had to start with it.
> 
> Comment your thoughts, kudos and follow of you liked it!


	10. The system

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At 18 one must register into the system

It was the mandatory date the government had set. Every year on the second Sunday of July, everyone over 18 years old have to go to the Planning Center and wait.

 

He was 23 now, he had gone every year for the last five years.

 

The system, he didn’t even understand how that fucking system worked. Supposedly through careful planning, research, biology, physics, astrology, magic, divine intervention, cosmology and who knows what else the system would pair people.

 

When one turns 18 you must get registered in the system and it would search for your perfect match. In school they were told that the system was created to avoid passion wars, if both ends agreed they meant to meet and start a life together. If they agreed the system would offer three choices of places they would fit best to live based on abilities, physical traits and knowledges.

 

After the first time it was optional to attend the matching day. Yet he kept showing up every year.

 

The systems were supposed to be the perfect solution yet it wasn’t entirely perfect.

 

Some people refused to meet its soulmate.

 

Some people were registered in different parts of the world and if they agreed to meet one would have to give in to travel to where the other was located so they could choose. Or in some cases the choice was made without meeting, by accepting random fate.

 

Sometimes the system showed that your soulmate was someone you knew and that other person may not agree to be “together” yet. It created what was called the “waiting”, the system would give you an extension of a certain amount of time.

 

Some people were set up with more than one person, creating a glitch that resulted in weird scenarios.

 

Sometimes people from the higher ends of society ended up being matched with the lower classes like himself. He never knew how that could work.

 

Some people rebelled against what the system wanted them to work or they wanted a path of their own and flee the city to live among the freemen, the wildings up north. He’d only heard stories about them.

 

Why did everyone trust the system so much?

 

Was the result of the previous wars between reigns because of unrequited loves that people tried to avoid to ever happen again? Were people so in need of guidance that they would obey what a machine said?

 

He wanted to rebel, to fight and not care about this shit so much, but he did.

 

He was alone. He always thought that he’d end up alone as he was a bastard, even in a society so planned as the one they lived in he was an outsider, he was someone who held no purpose. His family wasn’t planned and as a result he lived in the slumps of Flea Bottom, where people like him were located. His mother had been relocated there once she turned 18 and her parents kicked her out to have one mouth less to feed since she wasn’t matched, she eventually died of sickness and he ended up in the orphanage.

 

At 18 you were entered in the system that would analyze your whole life and it would tell you were to work and where to live according to your abilities and background as they were analyze with scrutinized determination.

 

He learnt, while growing up in the orphanage, how to fix things. He was good at welding and working metal, cars too, so the system usually made him work around that and it was okay. He received a good pay that got him to live well enough in one of the single unit apartments provided by the “property system”. He was strong with technical abilities, he was a good asset and could pretty much work everywhere. There would always be need for fixing and building stuff.

 

He earned enough, work was quite simple and he couldn’t really complain. At least he wasn’t working the shit cleaner at the sewage.

 

He promised himself that this would be the last year he’d show up at the matching day, just like he had done last year. He could see people leaving the building in pairs and he hated the part of him that wanted to be matched, so he could have someone in life.

 

He went into the building, waited in line until it was his turn to enter the chamber. The chamber was just a room with a panel, he approached it and placed his hand where the panel indicated.

 

“Gendry Waters. 23. Welding mechanics” he heard the machine recite and sighed, just like last year. He saw his file, his picture and basic information displayed on the screen.

 

“Searching for pair” the panel screen started loading while a hundred faces from different files like his started passing at high speed. It was taking so long, again, that he knew it was worthless, again.

 

He was about to remove his hand when the panel made a beeping sound “Match found”.

 

The air was sucked out of his lungs. His match was in the system.

 

The screen changed to a different mode, showing him a new picture. A girl, with grey eyes, and short hair.

 

Name: Arya Stark

Birth: June 21, 10056 BAC

Place of birth: Winterfell

Location: King’s Landing

 

The basic information left him shocked. Stark, the Starks were a royal family from the north as far as he knew. One of the greatest and oldest family lines in the realm. How could he be paired with her? What was she doing here far south? She was barely 18. Yet she would be already part of the working system since one was supposed to register at 17.

 

She was pretty, as far a he could tell from her picture. It was just the basic picture with her wearing the grey uniform all of them wore during induction into the system.

 

“Proceed?” the panel asked, he pressed yes and more information showed up.

 

It said she was a trainee in the army, the defense corps as she was relocated to King’s Landing recently. He saw pictures of her, in winter’s clothing as part of the army they held up there. She looked fierce, fire in her eyes in those pictures. The ones he saw of her from her living in King’s Landing and doing training there were different, the fire was gone. Perhaps she was unhappy in this place… or the fact that she was forced to be here because the system told her so.

 

She came from a big family, the system showing him their basic information. Her father was designated major up north, her mother was part of the planning center there. Her sister was in HighGarden. She had two younger brothers that weren’t in the system yet. An older brother that was second major up north. Her father had a son outside of marriage, that was interesting, and it showed he was assigned as part of the defense army in Castle Black, even further north.

 

More information about her kept showing up, data the system had compiled.

 

He didn’t know what to do now…

 

The screen changed again.

 

“Proceed Meeting?” it was a question what appeared showing him the only two options “Yes” or “No”. He tabbed the yes option far too quickly for his liking but he couldn’t help it.

 

“Waiting for answer” was what the panel showed him next. Dread washed all over him, maybe she wanted an extension or she could be disappointed in what his information showed. After all, she was what could be considered royalty in this day and age and he was just a low born bastard.

 

It was the longest he had waited, why couldn’t she free him of his misery?

“Answer received” he sighed again. Now the system would tell him what he feared.

 

“Proceed meeting” his eyes opened wide and he was shocked to the core. She wanted to meet him.

 

“Please, proceed to the meeting room. Follow the guidelines” at that the panel shut down and a new door he never took notice opened. He breathed in hard as he proceeded to walk following the door.

 

What was going to happen now? Could he still be rejected after this? Were they supposed to agree where to live and do according to the system options?

 

He was sweating so hard and his heart kept pounding a hundred times per minute. He finally reached a door, grabbed the handle and as he pulled he knew that all his questions would be answered when he enters the next room and, after all this time, he really can’t wait for it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feeling a bit into dystopian realities.


	11. Sensory overload

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gendry smells nice.

She was late to her meeting, not that it would bother her because she was meeting her friend and roommate HotPie but because she was always late and for a weird reason she thought it’d be a good idea to bet HotPie that she could be on time for once in her life.

 

She didn’t like losing, much less to HotPie. Especially not when she bet that if she was on time he’d have to bring her this giant dragon shaped bottle of vodka from his trip.

 

Once she finally reached their apartment building, she opened the gate and got herself in, taking the steps two at a time, which was a harder thing to do with a giant backpack attached to her back.

 

HotPie was leaving for three months because he was taking up a high class pastry course in Storm’s End and he was subletting his room to a friend of his who was supposed to arrive on Monday morning and until then she had the apartment all to herself.

 

She was so looking forward to get a few days to herself, which she rarely did. A friend of HotPie was going to live in his room while he was gone, apparently they knew each other from childhood and the guy was moving back to the city so he was sub renting the place while looking for one of his own in the city or something along that way. Hotpie once explained but she didn’t really listen when she was so focused on planning her alone weekend.

 

The most important reason she had to look forward this weekend was because her sister had drained her emotionally and mentally! Helping Sansa plan her wedding to Margaery was a nightmare! How could two divas be soulmates?! She crashed at Sansa’s yesterday to help her plan and also to help her plan a surprise for Marg who was arriving from a trip from HighGarden this morning. It could be said that she wouldn’t get near their apartment for the whole weekend unless she wants to be greeted by a pornesque image. She once caught them, it scarred her for life.

 

Looking at the time on her cellphone she was proud and happy to be on time for once, even earlier than expected, finally slowing down the last steps as she reached the fifth floor and got hit by a sudden scent. It was delicious, pretty much making her nose have a smellgasm, a mix of cinnamon mixed with something lemony while being a bit spicy with a smoked underneath scent. It was by far the greatest thing her nose had smelled in all her life, pretty much making her drool imagining what could possible make that incredible scent. It was just so powerful and it was coming from her apartment. Perhaps HotPie was baking something, but why would he when he was leaving in like half and hour? Maybe he was leaving her a goodbye treat! If it tasted even a bit like it smelled then it must be the most delicious thing on this planet.

 

She got her keys out, opening the door to be hit with that scent even harder and it made her mouth water “HotPie, I swear if you’re not giving me whatever it is that you’re baking I’m going to cry” she yelled as soon as she got inside the flat.

 

“What are you talking about?” HotPie was checking his phone out in the living room, surrounded by his luggage.

 

“That scent! What did you bake? Is it for me?!” she asked hopefully.

 

“I left you some frozen lasagnas on the fridge and some ready to bake pies. I know you’re like half wolf but smelling yesterday’s food beats up some weird stuff you’ve got going on, Arry!” whatever scent she was getting it didn’t just smell like lasagna, at all! It was sweet, but also like… rusty, like metal, iron, coal, fire, smoke but at the same time fresh and sweet. it was so intriguing! Did HotPie have an inside barbecue yesterday? Or tried a smoked something recipe?!

 

“hey, Arry. We’ve got a problem…” HotPie began… “Remember I talked to you about my friend who’s going to rent my room meanwhile looking for his own while I come back?" she nodded, still sniffing around in her place.

 

“Well… I was so busy and stressed out about moving and the course pack and all that I fucked things up…”

 

“What? Don’t tell me he’s not moving in and I have to find on short noticed someone to rent your bedroom for three months so I can pay the rent?! Please, don’t tell me it’s that! And why are the bathroom lights on at full power this early in the morning?” she asked observing the light coming out from under the bathroom door.

 

“What lights? No, focus! Arry! Stop sniffing around!” she was still sniffing around the living room ignoring HotPie, trying to figure out where that beautiful scent was coming from.

 

“From where the hells do that smell comes from?!”

 

“What smell?! The house smells like it always does! Like pastry and butter and leather and sweat from your punching bag! nothing more! Can you please listen and kill me after I come back?!”

 

“Alright, what is it? You better not let me down and so short noticed find a way to pay the rent!”

 

“I fucked up the dates! Gendry’s stuff are arriving on Monday but he…”

 

“He what? Won’t arrive?!

 

“Well, he’s taking a shower so I guess that means he has already arrived…” now that he mentioned it, she could hear the shower running from the bathroom. Apparently the guy had a knack of turning on the lights during the day, she may have to talk to him about that…

 

“Oh!” relief washed over her at the thought of not having to look like crazy for a temporary roommate until she remembered something she was looking forward “wait! That means I won’t have the weekend for myself?!”  she yelled and Hotpie winced, knowing perfectly that with the drop of those news her weekend plans she so looked forward were now ruined.

 

“I know! I I’m sorry! I misunderstood Gendry’s arrival date! And I can’t like throw him out… he’s my friend and he doesn’t have anyone here and since we have already signed the contract previously… and I’m sorry! I know you’re super tired of being Sansa’s maid of honor and you were looking forward to your time alone. I swear I’ll make it up to you somehow!”

 

She was mad and childish for a second, but there was nothing she could really do or get angry about really. HotPie had been super stressed because of his moving out, travel and stuff he needed for the course he was getting into and his internship at that fancy hotel he got and was super excited about. She couldn’t be a bitch to her friend and it wasn’t really a big of a deal, she still got a weekend off she would just have to share the apartment common areas.

 

“Don’t worry, I mean it’s not your fault, really. So don’t worry about it, you owe me nothing it was just an accident and It’s not a big of a deal because I can still lock myself up in my room and don’t answer the phone to anyone” shrugging everything off she could see HotPie’s face of relief as she heard the bathroom door opening and that marvellous scent she’d been sensing ever since she arrived got stronger making her turn around.

 

 

“HotPie, who’s singing?” she heard someone ask, someone with the velvetiest, deepest voice that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end and sent a shiver through her whole body. Barry White had nothing on that sexy voice, it instantly made her insides burn for some reason and that reason could be that the owner of said voice was a walking sex god or he was very, very ugly. She hoped it was the first option.

 

“Singing?” HotPie asked as she saw the man coming out of the bathroom and her breath hitched. Right in front of her was the handsomest man she’d ever seen.

 

He was tall with broad shoulders, wearing a long sleeved T-shirt and jeans. He was pale, strong jaw and straight nose, thick dark eyebrows framing the bluest eyes she’d ever seen. His hair was a bit long and messy as he had not combed it after his shower and droplets of water were falling from it.

 

He was a walking sex god.

 

And he was shining! He had like a halo light around him as if he was a vision himself!

 

Why?!

 

“oh, Gendry! This is Arya, my friend and roommate I talked to you about” HotPie introduced them.

 

The shining man stared at her for a moment with a shocked expression before shaking his head and muttering a “Hello. I’m Gendry”.

 

Gods, his voice could end wars and melt the icebergs.

 

“Arya” his eyes showed surprise for a microsecond but she caught it…

 

“Well, I left you both food on the freezer and try not to burn the place while I’m gone!” Hotpie started making his way to the door “My uber to the airport is here. Gendry can you help me take down my luggage, please?”

 

Gendry was still looking at her while she was trying to ignore him, trying to come up with a sane reason as of why he was shining! and why was that god sent scent was coming from him! And why every time he spoke she felt as if she had heard angel’s sirens going on?! Why?!

 

She tried to say goodbye to HotPie in the most normal way she could before he left, dashing to her bedroom to lock herself in as soon as the guys disappear through the door.

 

Why?!

 

Was she losing her mind?!

 

It was as if her senses were heightened and going crazy and it all had to do with Gendry for some reason! As if he was…

 

No…

 

It was imposible!

 

 _“When I first met Margaery it was as if I had just walked into a valley of roses, I swear Arya! She smelled as the most beautiful valley of roses and I was drawn to her. I couldn’t help it!”_ she recalled Sansa describing how she knew Margaery was her soulmate.

 

 _“When I met Dany I swear that I saw her burning. She was pure fire as if her aura was fire, I swear it’s like she’s surrounded by flames and I just want to burn in them. And she smells like fire, ashes and coal and It was so appealing, I was just awed and I needed to get close to her. And I just knew that she was it, that she was my soulmate”_ Jon said once about Daenerys.

 

 _“I was in class when Jeyne spoke asking something to the teacher and I swear it was as if a chorus on angels sang every time she spoke, they still do. But I just knew I had to meet her! She was like a magnet and I was just a helpless piece of metal”_ that was how Robb tells the story of how he found out Jeyne was his soulmate.

 

The memories of her family member’s testimonies of meeting their soulmates were invading her right now, confirming her fears.

 

When a person was connected to another somehow they would sync, as if one would be more sensitive to that specific person who happened to be one’s soulmate. It was as in their physical senses, smell, eyesight, hearing and touch were heightened to the maximum when concerned to their soulmates.

 

Does that mean that Gendry is her soulmate?!

 

Yet the scent… it was still driving her mad that lingering scent the apartment now had… she was lighting incense to keep it at bay somehow in her panicked state… but it was still there… and when he was near it was stronger.

 

And he shines! He has this halo of white light! She saw it through the door edges while he was showering and when he came out it was as if he was an angel… it reminded her of a scene in American Gods, whenever Laura Moon sees Shadow.

 

Gods…

 

She needed to confirm it and also confirm that he was experiencing the same things as her because it would be very embarrassing if that wasn’t the case yet he mentioned someone singing and he looked surprise when he heard her voice.

 

Or she could have misinterpreted it all.

 

She was panicking so much she was even considering calling Sansa for advice, even if that meant that the entire northern population would know about her situation.

 

She must’ve panicked for what felt like forever because the sun went down on her window and her stomached grumbled demanding food and both things reminded her something, she had a new roommate, whom she may be very attracted to and might be her soulmate, which meant rules need to be settled or things need to be confirmed.

 

What could she do?

 

Her stomach grumbled again and she decided that maybe she could answer that after dinner. Or who knows, he may be outside right now and she wasn’t a coward and she was going to take the bull by its horns.

 

What could she do?

 

Hiding was not an option, she had already set her mind about it so the only possible answer was to go out and live her life as normal until she bumps into walking sex god and talk about it.

 

Or climb him like a tree and die of embarrassment.

 

She wanted to take a deep breath before leaving her room but considering the fact that the glorious scent that got her all excited was everywhere in the apartment she opted not to. She opened the door and hit a wall.

 

The most comfortable wall in the entire history of walls, it was warm, softly firm and she wanted to melt into it. Only it wasn’t a wall at all, it was someone’s chest. As she was trying to get away she just couldn’t because the smell was overloading her senses, her train of thought, her rationality and she just wanted to get closer until she melted against him.

 

This was bad, she needed to get out.

 

“I… uhmm” gods, his voice and how she could feel the rumble in his chest as he spoke “you…” she caught sight of a bit of sense in her and pulled away while looking up to see if he was looking at her like as if she was a weirdo, which she was at the moment. At least she took a step away but he moved with her, taking a step forward and surrounding her waist with his big glorious arm pulling him against him.

 

His eyes, they were blue, so blue and bright yet so dark at the moment as if they were midnight sky.

 

Oh, and he was still shining. That halo of light was still around him, almost blinding her but making it impossible for her to look away and his scent was clouding her brain again, so much she lifted her hand and placed her palm against his chest.

 

As soon as she touched him he hissed “you…” he tried to speak.

 

She got closer, unable to stop lifting herself up to the balls of her feet as her nose was guiding her were the scent was stronger, his pulse joint. She settled herself there, placing her nose against the crook of his neck and him pulling her harder against him.

 

“You” she took a sniff “smell so nice”. She just couldn’t get enough; it was as if she was addicted to his scent, a junkie. She inhaled harder and a moan escaped her lips when the scent went up her nostrils, making her feel happy and numb and if she could melt into a puddle, all at the same time.

 

“Your voice” he started before groaning as she moved her hand up until she could place it around his neck and make it it easier for her to stand on her tip toes “I can’t get enough of your voice and…” he shifted pulling himself away to look her in the eyes “It’s as if the stars and snowstorms sing whenever you speak. I can hear you. When you entered the apartment I heard you, as if you were singing, singing all the time. I’ve never heard someone like you”

 

“You shine” she said, looking at him in the eyes.

 

“You too, you shine as when the sun hits snow” he was leaning in closer “You…” she saw how his eyes darkened even more and his gaze got even sharper “You are my soulmate” he declared.

 

They were just inches apart and now she wanted a taste, a taste of him. If this was the soulmate connection, then be damned she wanted him, all of him and nothing was going to stop her. “Yes. And you’re mine” she pulled him down to finally taste him and it was rapture.

 

The scent of him, the sight of him, the taste of him, the feel of him clouded every single one of her senses during that kiss in a sensory overload and she just wanted to get lost in. He burned, but he burned so good. He was spice, smoke, light and everything more, so much more and she just wanted it all. So she pulled him into her room, to have him cloud her senses even more.

 

And so he did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment if you like, it makes me happy.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoy this.  
> Fav, comment and follow if you like.  
> Happy holidays!


End file.
